The Congress that has just closed down for their summer recess should just stay home. For those who bask in their victory of dysfunctional government,they should be ashamed of themselves. They are traitors to the cause of Republican government and Republican ideals. The House of Representatives is being run by a group of unpatriotic individuals who put partisan politics above the interests of the American people.

Our founders worked hard to develop a system of government that they thought would break the violence of faction through our system of checks and balances. But then, again, they had no idea that there would be a television network more interested in partisanship than telling the truth. They counted on representative government to have people with the honor to put honor above self. They did not anticipate the fact that money would corrupt the hearts of men and that the selfish interests of man would turn their hearts against the well-being of the people. 

James Madison warned us all in a clear and straight forward way in Federalist # 10 that faction has destroyed all of the previous Republics. Well, what would he have to say now? Where are the patriots in the Republican Party now? Where are the men and women to stand up for the interests of their country instead of partisan gain. There are no Eisenhower’s, no Bob Doles, no Goldwater’s and I believe that even Ronald Reagan would be appalled by the outrageous nature of today’s Republican Party.
Our Patriots are the young people who serve our country on foreign soil, who unquestionably give of themselves.
You would think that all of us would be patriots from a love of country. But we live in an era when moral strength is lacking. It has for some of us become more about me and less about us. The simple fact is that our dysfunctional government is due to a lack of patriotism. Patriotism is when you put the well-being of the nation above your own self interests. It is about what is best for the whole and not the individual.
Patriotism is not about putting a flag up on the grounds of your house or wearing a flag on your lapel. It is about the love that you have in your heart and the actions that you take.
Perhaps the new-found popularity of libertarian philosophy is more about selfishness than it is about liberty. Patriotism implies that you are going to give of yourself to something larger than yourself. Tea Party followers are not a group that is easily defined but it seems to include among their followers those who believe that the individual is more important than the union that we are apart of. We may be a nation made of up individuals but in order to provide for and promote the general welfare we must sometimes sacrifice a little individual liberty for the benefit of the community.
As it was once said this is not the time for sunshine patriots. It is easier to be a patriot in the light of day during a crisis than it is to do it every day.
“Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.” Oliver Goldsmith, “The Deserted Village.” 1770
We are a nation made up of communities and states. Let us be brave and renew our patriotism and love of country. Let us reject those who would praise the individual and forsake what is best for the majority. Our village will be deserted if we do no renew our patriotism and realize that as a nation it is more important to give of thyself for our nation’s sake and forsake the preoccupation with the individual’s relentless search for personal wealth.