Question President Obama's Patriotism

It is politically incorrect to question someone's patriotism.  It seems no matter how bitter political opponents are they will not go there.  Think of recent national elections and when it got heated the offended party would exclaim with indignation, "are you questioning my patriotism?"  The answer always has been something like: "I am not doubting your patriotism, we just disagree on what is best for the country..."  Even when the suspect was Barack Obama, who seems to never miss an opportunity to criticize America, the retort was that we would never question his patriotism, just his ideas or his actions or his motivations.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani recently seemed to go there, and then when pressed offered a more subtle opinion.  Here's the back-story:  At a private fundraising party in New York City Wednesday night Giuliani is quoted as saying,"I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America.  He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country."

Not surprisingly this brought a lot of reaction, some supportive, but much shock and amazement too.  So Giuliani then appeared on "Fox & Friends" Thursday to clarify his comments. "Well, first of all, I'm not questioning his patriotism [emphasis added]. He's a patriot, I'm sure," Giuliani said. "What I'm saying is, in his rhetoric I very rarely hear the things that I used to hear Ronald Reagan say, the things that I used to hear Bill Clinton say about how much he loves America. [...] I do hear him criticize America much more often than other American presidents. And when it's not in the context of an overwhelming number of statements about the exceptionalism of America, it sounds like he's more of a critic than he is a supporter."

This lead me to wonder about the real definition of patriotism.  According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary patriotism is love for or devotion to one's country.  Hmmm. If Giuliani is stating that President Obama does not love his country isn't he by definition (literally) saying Obama is unpatriotic?  Yes, that is what Giuliani is saying.

If we wanted to let him off the hook I guess we could say that in his clarifying statement to "Fox and Friends" Giuliani is saying that its Obama's rhetoric that sounds like he doesn't love his country.  This is certainly true about his rhetoric.  When was the last time we actually heard Obama say something even positive about America, other than how much good he has done for it?  Obama's rhetoric does not show evidence of devotion to country.  

I think Mayor Giuliani's original statement really reflects how he feels. He believes that it not just the rhetoric, but that Obama truly does not love his country.  I think there are many politicians who think the same and would not be so clear, but like Giuliani they would then claim they were not questioning Obama's patriotism.

It is a horrible thing to say, but I agree with Mayor Giuliani, that President Obama does not love his country.  It is horrible to think about - that the people of this country elevated to the highest office a person who in words and actions shows he lacks a devotion to his country.  And further, it is a very sad thing to say, but if we are to use the dictionary definition, the President of the United States is unpatriotic.