I've wanted to do this now the past couple Fourths of July but never got around to it. The latest conservative nonsense always seemed to take precedence; but now, maybe, it's time to do it.
It's time to talk about how a liberal thinks about patriotism.
Understand that I'm not always comfortable with the mantle of "liberal." It's yoked across my shoulders specifically because I have been anti-conservative, determined these past few years to stand in the conservative hurricane. That makes me a liberal, I guess.
And the patriotism issue is part of that. It's not as much of a hot-button thing as it was in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 and the decision to invade Iraq, when the right smeared as unpatriotic those who showed insufficient enthusiasm. Among the many things that annoy me about conservatives, this ranks near the top. Because I wouldn't raise my kids anywhere else; I do indeed love my country. Just not the same way conservatives do.
Al Franken once said that conservatives love their country like a 4-year-old loves mommy. Everything mommy does is wonderful; anyone who criticizes mommy is bad. That's simplistic, but there's a lot to it. Conservatives seem to have this idea that it's all right if America does it, whatever "it" is. So as we spread freedom, what's a little torture? Heck, conservative yakker Glenn Beck last month said rather than let the Supreme Court permit terrorist
suspects (key word) to go free, we should just shoot them all.
That ain't how a liberal loves America.
First and foremost, a liberal loves the idea, maybe the
ideal, of America. The notion that all men are created equal, and thus entitled to the same basic rights — that's downright radical, if you think about it. At one time it was meant almost solely in socioeconomic terms, but it ultimately resulted in the abolition of slavery and the civil rights movement. We see it now in the quest for equality among gays in America.
It runs counter to human nature, really, and to the tribalism that runs rampant on the right, where the world is divided into "us" and "them" and barbarians lurk outside every gate. But a liberal might say: Look, get a grip. America as a country isn't cheapened, society doesn't collapse if gays have the same rights as you or I. And torture is always bad because
America doesn't do that.
Liberals want America — and Americans — to live up to ideals. For me, that doesn't mean spreading those ideals around the world. It's enough that others might see America as a shining beacon and emulate it; I don't believe we ought to go spreading the light at gunpoint.
But conservatives will tell you we have no choice but to wage the grand crusade, because the terrorists threaten our very existence. And see, liberals reject that. The terrorists aren't going to destroy us — and in any case, you don't defend American ideals by undermining them. America is better than that, stronger than that — or has been. And must be, again.
Indeed, the strength of this country isn't that we never make mistakes; we have. Our strength is that our system, those ideals we teach our kids and supposedly cherish, permit us to right the ship. Freedom of speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure — these things don't make America weak. They make America strong.
Particularly in troubled times, it's tough to hold fast to ideals that may seem to open the door to terrorists. But liberal democracy —
Americanism — is either the answer, or it isn't. I think it is.
No fair saying the same thing — then reaching for something else.
Gil Smart is associate editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at gsmart@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-8817. 
