Bill Moyers on Patriotism

Take Public Broadcasting Back

Take Public Broadcasting Back
by Bill Moyers
Closing address
National Conference on Media Reform
St. Louis, Missouri
May 15, 2005
“I wore my flag tonight. First time. Until now I haven't thought it
necessary to display a little metallic icon of patriotism for everyone to
see. It was enough to vote, pay my taxes, perform my civic duties, speak my
mind, and do my best to raise our kids to be good Americans. Sometimes I
would offer a small prayer of gratitude that I had been born in a country
whose institutions sustained me, whose armed forces protected me, and whose
ideals inspired me; I offered my heart's affections in return. It no more
occurred to me to flaunt the flag on my chest than it did to pin my mother's
picture on my lapel to prove her son's love. Mother knew where I stood; so
does my country. I even tuck a valentine in my tax returns on April 15. So
what's this doing here? Well, I put it on to take it back. The flag's been
hijacked and turned into a logo — the trademark of a monopoly on patriotism.
On those Sunday morning talk shows, official chests appear adorned with the
flag as if it is the good housekeeping seal of approval. During the State of
the Union, did you notice Bush and Cheney wearing the flag? How come? No
administration's patriotism is ever in doubt, only its policies. And the
flag bestows no immunity from error. When I see flags sprouting on official
lapels, I think of the time in China when I saw Mao's little red book on
every official's desk, omnipresent and unread.
But more galling than anything are all those moralistic ideologues in
Washington sporting the flag in their lapels while writing books and running
Web sites and publishing magazines attacking dissenters as un-American. They
are people whose ardor for war grows disproportionately to their distance
from the fighting. They're in the same league as those swarms of corporate
lobbyists wearing flags and prowling Capitol Hill for tax breaks even as
they call for more spending on war. So I put this on as a modest riposte to
men with flags in their lapels who shoot missiles from the safety of
Washington think tanks, or argue that sacrifice is good as long as they
don't have to make it, or approve of bribing governments to join the
coalition of the willing (after they first stash the cash.) I put it on to
remind myself that not every patriot thinks we should do to the people of
Baghdad what Bin Laden did to us. The flag belongs to the country, not to
the government. And it reminds me that it's not un-American to think that
war — except in self-defense — is a failure of moral imagination, political
nerve, and diplomacy. Come to think of it, standing up to your government
can mean standing up for your country.”