Reply #225: Will Marshall wants us to become like them: neoconservatives (or 'neoliberals'). Select quotes:

[Swamp Rat]

"Since 9/11, patriotism has become the most potent “values issue” in U.S. politics. To compete in America’s heartland, Democrats must challenge Republicans’ claim to be the authentic voice of American patriotism.

The problem for Democrats is that an important part of their base—upscale white liberals—seems torn about the meaning of patriotism. Republicans are ruthlessly effective in exploiting this ambivalence. Questioning Democrats’ patriotism has been an ugly, but undeniably effective, GOP tactic from last year’s “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” campaign against John Kerry to Karl Rove’s recent canard that liberals counseled “therapy and understanding” rather than retaliation in response to al Qaeda’s attacks on America.

The right answer to GOP jingoism, however, cannot be left-wing anti-Americanism. Of course, progressives can criticize their country and still be patriotic. Indeed, one of the highest forms of patriotism is being honest about your country’s flaws and taking responsibility for fixing them. But it is what’s in your heart that counts. Are your objections rooted in a warm and generous affection for your country, or in a curdled contempt for it? Too many Americans aren’t sure if the left is emotionally on America’s side. And that’s a big problem for Democrats.

How can Democrats start healing this breach? For starters, they can speak out against colleges that ban military recruiters or the Reserved Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) from their campuses. Thirty years after the Vietnam War ended, such Ivy League campuses as Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth continue to ban ROTC. The message this sends is an offensive amalgam of class bias and anti-military prejudice: Service in the Armed Forces might be OK for dumb-ass Southerners or small-town kids with limited prospects, but it’s not a smart career move for our best and brightest. Democrats should demand an end to this disgraceful legacy of the Vietnam protest era, by denying public funding to schools that deny the Armed Forces access to their campuses ...

One way to put service on more young people’s radar screens is to replace the Selective Service System with a new National Service System. Such a system would sign up women, as well as men, and encourage them to volunteer for military or civilian service.

Another way to enlarge Ameri-Corps would be to link federal student aid to national service. Under such an arrangement, only those who agree to serve would be eligible to receive Pell Grants or to apply for subsidized student loans.

By putting the war on terror first, ending the party’s alienation from our military, and issuing a new call for service and sacrifice, Democrats can define a more compelling patriotism than the GOP’s chauvinist bluster.

Democrats need to be choosier about the political company they keep, distancing themselves from the pacifist and anti-American fringe."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4692970

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I wish I could kick all of your threads. ;)