Don’t let Trump diminish your patriotism

Does flying an American flag in front of your house make you a MAGA supporter?

When I bought my new house two years ago, the first home improvement I did was install an American flag to the front of the house. Of course I would. I served in the Marines and always have a zeal in my heart for this country. But when I posted a picture to my Instagram stories, a few friends commented that I might be mistaken for a Trumper. 

They were kidding — sort of. Maybe. But it did make me wonder how President Trump and company have seemed to bogart displays of patriotism and more worryingly, why the rest of us have seemed to shy away from expressing our love of country.

In the advent of America’s 250th birthday, many are questioning what being patriotic means now in an age of Trump, wokeness, performative influencers, flag pins on suits, and political correctness. On one hand, you have the symbols for this country being used in the cringiest of ways by MAGAs who seem to need to remind us that their support for a low-polling president is based in patriotism, even if it hurts them and us.

On the other hand, you have people who seem to love complaining that America has never been a great country, all our heroes are actually villains, and learning about our mistakes must be amplified while learning about our achievements should be muted.

The New Yorker ran an article asking if patriotism is problematic, Disney has been criticized for being cringey, and polls show Americans at large are less patriotic than ever. This is most evident in the Democratic ranks. A whopping two-thirds of Democrats said they were proud to be American in 2017. That number has plummeted thanks to Trump and a need to over-correct our zeal when it comes to our past.

Also, it doesn’t help that times are tough. Affordability is not a hoax,........

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