Josh Schrei has a very thoughtful post up that aims to blow up the flawed perception that Republican views are normative for defining patriotism, while Democratic views are somehow unpatriotic. Based in large part on Josh’s time working on the NASCAR circuit and experiencing these memes first-hand in debates with people across the country, he identifies several of the central falsehoods that underly the “Republicans are more patriotic” narrative. It’s a long post worthy of repeated readings, but here are the bullet points that Schrei takes down:

1. Wanting smaller government = being more patriotic
2. Rekindling the rebelliousness of the confederacy = being more patriotic
3. Questioning your nation’s foreign policy = being less patriotic
4. Being an intellectual = being less patriotic

These are insidious, pervasive narratives that underlie the key to much of the contemporary Republican Party’s argument to voters. Needless to say, Schrei’s rebuttals are powerful and accurate.  Rather than quote them here, I hope you will just go read the original post.