The American Spectator : The Patriotic Lessons of Disneyland

by Patrick O'Hannigan

Some progressive commentators now say that conservatives hate America.  Never mind why. The people saying such things could just ask conservatives they know whether that assertion is true. Sadly, many do not ask, they just assert. They do not realize that by tossing accusations of hate about so freely, they cast themselves as Vizzini in a bad (but not inconceivable) remake of I don't remember Neil Armstrong planting a French flag on the moon, Portugal tipping the scales on multiple fronts in a world war, or China sending humanitarian aid around the globe whenever disaster strikes, but Gabler enjoys putting Bozo shoes on received wisdom. Last year, he claimed that the modern conservative movement owed more to Joe McCarthy than to Barry Goldwater. In true Vizzini fashion, it could be said of Gabler that probably he means no harm, though he's really very short on charm. These days, Gabler and his liberal cohort sneer at patriotism because they think we're better than that, or because it seems to be different in degree but not in kind from primitive tribalism. In other words, either we're enlightened enough to have outgrown emotional attachments to the local sod, or Tarzan with table manners is still the lord of the jungle. That false choice makes no room for quiet patriotism; it assumes that anyone who thinks his country is best has the same grip on reality that Alice did when she charged down a rabbit hole into Wonderland. . Hickam and Hillenbrand tell "underdog makes good" stories that depend on a social mobility unknown to other countries. Bowen writes about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the groundbreaking work that delegates did there. But the rocket story, the horse story, and the founding story do not matter to people who damn this country with faint praise after having accused conservatives of doing that or worse. When a frontal attack on American exceptionalism won't do, progressives sometimes...

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