On CBS’s Sunday Morning, correspondent Martha Teichner decided to try to define patriotism: "In reality, there may be no more loaded concept in the American political lexicon...The election will be a referendum on patriotism. One of campaign '08's central and most contentious issues." Teichner talked to liberal Brookings Institution analyst William Galston about the history of that "loaded concept": "It wasn't a question of one party or the other. It was President Truman, after all, who revived the idea of loyalty oaths and the legitimacy of imposing them." In the spirit of bipartisanship Teichner added: "Then there was Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. His extremist views on loyalty and patriotism made his name synonymous with the political witch hunts of the 1950s."
Teichner went on to conclude: "Each side's arguments have hardened over time and become weapons in partisan battles." Her example: "Look at the damage the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did to Senator John Kerry's presidential ambitions in 2004. Over the question of his patriotism." Teichner then examined a different take on patriotism: "Steven Johnston teaches political theory at the University of South Florida. He is outnumbered, but not alone, in believing that patriotism is actually a bad thing, harmful to democracy."
Johnston explained his perspective: "Sooner or later you get to the ultimate test, that the only way that you can definitively prove in any sense that you do in fact love your country is are you willing to die for it. Are you willing to sacrifice life for it? Both yours and others as well?" Teichner added: "To Johnston, the Vietnam memorial in Washington D.C. only reinforces his position." Johnston argued there were not enough names on the memorial: "Even though some people were willing to give their lives for the country in protesting the war, they would not be considered Vietnam veterans. They would not be eligible for inscription."
Teichner cited another liberal to reinforce Johnston: "George Kateb is Professor Emeritus of Politics at Princeton University. He rejects what he sees as the inevitable military component to patriotism." Kateb explained: "The terribleness of patriotism is if you define it as love of country, just simply that with the readiness to kill and die for my country, right or wrong, millions have been sacrificed on the altar of this idol." Last November, Teichner did a fawning tribute on the passing of left-wing author Norman Mailer, who said the World Trade Center "had to be destroyed," following September 11th.
Teichner never cited any conservatives in the story, but did offer some balance at the end of the segment by briefly highlighting one person who admired patriotism: "Four years ago [Nick] Snider, a retired U.P.S. executive, opened the multimillion dollar not-for-profit National Museum of Patriotism. That's right. Museum of Patriotism. Which is in the process of moving to new quarters in downtown Atlanta."
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
9:00AM TEASE:
CHARLES OSGOOD: Just about every candidate in every race appeals to our patriotism and love of country. But that concept means different things to different people as we'll see in Martha Teichner's Sunday Morning cover story.
BARACK OBAMA: The question of who is or is not a patriot-
MARTHA TEICHNER: During campaign '08 has patriotism been a distraction or is it the basic issue?
NICK SNIDER: Patriotism in my heart and my mind, it's working toward building a better America.
TEICHNER: Give me your take on the theme of patriotism in this campaign.
GEORGE KATEB: If a candidate doesn't have much else going for him or her, there's always this word they can invoke.
TEICHNER: A simple word with complicated implications. Patriotism, later this Sunday Morning.
9:05AM SEGMENT:
CHARLES OSGOOD: Just two days to go to election day. A day for doing our patriotic duty by exercising our franchise, by voting for the candidates of our choice. We hear a lot of competing claims about patriotism during campaign years. Which makes it our patriotic duty to try to sort them out. Our cover story is reported now by Martha Teichner.
CLASS OF SCHOOL CHILDREN: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America-
MARTHA TEICHNER: The dictionary definition of patriotism is 'love for, or devotion to, one's country.' That's all. Simple.
CHILDREN: -with liberty and justice for all.
TEICHNER: Deceptively simple.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Patriotism, believing in God first and country second.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I think you need to support our troops. You need to support our leaders. You know, you can disagree but you need to do so in the right way.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: Love your country and what it stands for.
TEICHNER: In reality, there may be no more loaded concept in the American political lexicon.
SARAH PALIN: You have never been not proud to be an American. You are proud to be an American.
TEICHNER: Think about it. On Tuesday, voters will not only be choosing between candidates-
[CLIP OF MCCAIN AD]
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Risky, proven, for a stronger America.
TEICHNER: -Americans will be deciding who captures the flag. Or flag lapel pin.
[CLIP OF OBAMA AD]
BARACK OBAMA: Hard work. Honesty.
TEICHNER: The election will be a referendum on patriotism. One of campaign '08's central and most contentious issues.
OBAMA: The question of who is or is not a patriot all too often poisons our political debates in ways that divide us rather than bring us together.
TEICHNER: Recent U.S. history has plenty of examples.
WILLIAM GALSTON: It has roots actually in the 1930s and the 1940s. Some of the debates over communism and domestic communist influence.
TEICHNER: William Galston, now at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C., served as a policy advisor to Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Walter Mondale.
GALSTON: It wasn't a question of one party or the other. It was President Truman, after all, who revived the idea of loyalty oaths and the legitimacy of imposing them.
TEICHNER: This was a Democratic president.
GALSTON: And very much so.
JOSEPH MCCARTHY: You know the Civil Liberties Union has been listed as a front doing the work of the Communist Party.
TEICHNER: Then there was Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. His extremist views on loyalty and patriotism made his name synonymous with the political witch hunts of the 1950s. But, according to Galston, the ideological chasm that defined the Vietnam era is still echoing in today's politics.
GALSTON: We are still fighting the Vietnam war as a people, as a culture. Some of the issues on the table are the direct lineal descendants and reflections of the controversies that broke out in the late 1960s over war and peace, over race, and over culture. Like it or not, those debates are still with us.
TEICHNER: Each side's arguments have hardened over time and become weapons in partisan battles.
[CLIP OF SWIFT BOAT AD]
UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER B: John Kerry secretly met with enemy leaders-
TEICHNER: Look at the damage the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did to Senator John Kerry's presidential ambitions in 2004. Over the question of his patriotism.
PETER BEINART: People tried to kind of suggest that John Kerry disrespected the American military because he had been very harshly critical of some of the things the military had done in Vietnam.
TEICHNER: Peter Beinart is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has written about patriotism.
BEINART: Democrats and liberals tend to think about patrotism in terms of America's promise, in terms of America as an ongoing struggle to become a better nation. I think for conservatives by and large, patriotism has to do with reference towards the past. The idea that ritual -- flying the flag, putting on a flag lapel pin -- is a vehicle to deeper meaning, whereas I think liberals often tend to believe that ritual is a substitute for deeper meaning.
TEICHNER: Evidence supporting Beinart's view? According to a recent Gallup/USA Today poll, 36% of Republicans think wearing that flag pin indicates someone is patriotic, compared to 26% of Democrats. Saying the pledge of allegiance, two out of three Republicans think that's patriotic. Not even half of Democrats do. But partisanship aside, in a 33-country survey of national pride, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center, Americans ranked among the highest, which would explain that lump in the throat, that tear in the eye, when the 'Star-Spangled Banner' is played and when it's flown.
STEVEN JOHNSTON: I do not stand for the national anthem at sporting events. I remain seated. And I have been doing this since I was in college. And the reaction is hostile.
TEICHNER: Steven Johnston teaches political theory at the University of South Florida. He is outnumbered, but not alone, in believing that patriotism is actually a bad thing, harmful to democracy.
JOHNSTON: Sooner or later you get to the ultimate test, that the only way that you can definitively prove in any sense that you do in fact love your country is are you willing to die for it. Are you willing to sacrifice life for it? Both yours and others as well?
TEICHNER: To Johnston, the Vietnam memorial in Washington D.C. only reinforces his position.
JOHNSTON: Even though some people were willing to give their lives for the country in protesting the war, they would not be considered Vietnam veterans. They would not be eligible for inscription.
GEORGE KATEB: The terribleness of patriotism is if you define it as love of country, just simply that with the readiness to kill and die for my country, right or wrong, millions have been sacrificed on the altar of this idol.
TEICHNER: George Kateb is Professor Emeritus of Politics at Princeton University. He rejects what he sees as the inevitable military component to patriotism.
KATEB: We wouldn't have enemies unless our enemies were also patriotic. I would prefer a world in which the general sense among everybody was, no, that's not how we try to work for the benefit of our particular society. Not by a pumped-up, trumped up, inflated feeling constantly demonstrated often with bluster and meanness. 'I love my country.' Well, prove it. Prove it by trying to make it better rather than making it a more efficient military machine.
TEICHNER: Remember our Gallup poll? It found that 87% of Americans believe that serving in the military is patriotic. But look at this. Even more, 95%, say that voting is patriotic. Indicating the public's definition of patriotism is broad.
NICK SNIDER: This exhibit is the hall of patriots.
TEICHNER: The medallion Nick Snider shows me is of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.
SNIDER: And anyone who could not associate building a better America with what this woman has done, I can't help them no matter what I do.
TEICHNER: Someone who builds a better America. That's his definition of a patriot.
SNIDER: Well, this collection here-
TEICHNER: Four years ago Snider, a retired U.P.S. executive, opened the multimillion dollar not-for-profit National Museum of Patriotism. That's right. Museum of Patriotism. Which is in the process of moving to new quarters in downtown Atlanta. Why did you see the need to have a patriotism museum?
SNYDER: This is a pretty emotional issue to me. I think we truly have the greatest country in the world, but I see slippage. So I went home one day and I said to my wife, 'I'm going to do a museum.' And of course, she put her head back, as all wives do, and rolled her eyes.
TEICHNER: Building on his own collection of war-time jewelry, Snider was not a man to be deterred.
SNIDER: I think we'd be in serious trouble without patriotism. I think it's the DNA that makes America so unique. I consider it the glue that holds us together. The beautiful thing about patriotism is it's everybody's.
TEICHNER: Even if between now and Tuesday both Republicans and Democrats might try to convince the American public otherwise.
