Eagerly snatching another opportunity to paint American conservatives as more patriotic than their liberal brethren, Fox News decided to jump on American Gymnastics gold medallist Gabby Douglas for showing insufficient national pride by wearing a pink leotard whilst competing:
Because, of course, the best way to demonstrate pride in and commitment to one’s country at the Olympic Games is not to compete to the best of your ability and bring home a gold medal, but rather to display the colours of your flag over a sufficient percentage of the surface area of your body.
I just can’t with this nonsense. I know it’s a personality trait in a lot of conservative-leaning people that I should perhaps try to understand (though as a conservative-leaning person myself I don’t think I have this tendency), that they place a great deal of value in reverence for institutions and symbols. There is certainly a time and a place for that. However, this need for all aspiring American politicians to wear a US flag lapel pin, and now this snide attack on Gabby Douglas for failing to show enough of the red, white and blue, is just ridiculous.
You don’t need to wear the modern day equivalent of an Uncle Sam costume to prove that you love America, and are proud of your great nation’s astonishing heritage and unrivaled accomplishments.
You don’t need to chant “USA, USA!” all the time if you don’t want to.
America became the great land that it is precisely because the people who made it great didn’t feel the need to talk about it all the time. They quietly got on and did it.
When nationalistic bombast is all you have left to display, then your country is in a bad place. America is not in that bad place, and God willing, it never will be. Fox News should focus on who will win the next Olympic gold medal for Team USA, not the clothing choice of their most recent champion.
Semi-Partisan Politics 
Isn’t she the Flying Squirrel? I saw her; she is very talented. I personally find love of symbols/institutions to be harmful, anti-democratic and the hallmark of stupidity. An institution or symbol can look democratic or symbolise justice, equality or freedom, yet be used to fight all of these values – you can probably think of quite a few historical and perhaps even, to a lesser degree of harm, contemporary examples. Patriotism is a good thing and should be encouraged, as it leads to the drive to change society for the better and question authority, but making it a chief value is stupid. Patriotism, as you said, isn’t about chanting ‘USA’ really, REALLY loud and continually while other countries don’t, nor waving a flag – which is just a bit of cloth – it’s about DOING something for your country, about caring about stuff. Acting like obnoxious, boisterous dicks at the Olympics isn’t patriotism either. They even chanted USA when a GB gymnast made a mistake on the parralel bars, I recall.
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Exactly. As Kennedy said, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. There are many ways to show your love and appreciation of your country – build a successful business, be involved in your community, create beautiful art, be charitable, and yes, wear the colours and fly the flag if you want to – but attacking someone for not wrapping themselves in the flag is foolish, and misses the point.
I agree with you – institutions and symbols can all be usurped or misused at some point. That’s why I like that in the US, politicians and federal workers swear an oath of allegiance not to a person or figurehead (the President) but to uphold the Constitution.
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