Being a patriot vs. being patriotic
new polling finds that 74% of Americans say McCain is a patriot, while only 56% of Americans say Obama is a patriot.
That got me thinking: Do I think Obama is a patriot? I don’t know. Do I think Obama is patriotic? Certainly. I think he probably digs America and freedom of speech and all that jazz. But is he a patriot? When I think of a patriot, I think of, well, someone like John McCain: a military man, someone who practices what he preaches when it comes to loving one’s country. This is why I’m not terribly surprised that there’s a patriot gap.
But then that got me thinking even further: am I a patriot? I mean, I’m certainly patriotic. Probably more patriotic than Barack Obama, even. But am I a patriot? I dunno. I don’t run around killing terrorists and fighting Communists. I don’t walk around like this guy:
Hrm. What does everyone else think? Is there a difference between being patriotic and being A patriot?