Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
Mark Twain

What does it mean to be a patriot? That's a title that gets bandied around an awful lot, yet I wonder how many people actually know what it stands for. In consulting dictionary.com, I found two definitions, the first being: a person who loves, defends and supports their country and its interests with devotion. The second is: a person who values individual rights, especially one who attempts to defend those rights against presumed interference by the federal government. When one considers these two definitions, it's easy to see how confusing it can be when trying to decide who best fits the definition.

During the American Revolution, the patriots fought for freedom from English tyranny. They valued liberty above life itself and were willing to give up their lives, in every meaning of the word, for the cause. From their steadfastness there arose a great experiment, the democracy-republic known as the United States of America. They didn't always agree about what went into the new form of government. There were many arguments and debates as they hammered out its framework, but in the end agreements and compromises were made that became the Constitution of the United States of America.

Since then it seems Americans have grappled with what it means to be a patriot, as well as who has the right to call themselves such. Members of our military take an oath to protect the Constitution and defend the country from all who threaten it, both foreign and domestic. Now they are in the difficult position of having to decide where their devotion lies. With the Constitution? Or with the ones who are trampling it and the rights of the citizens it is meant to represent. Are the anti-government militias patriotic? I suppose in the past the argument could be made for the second definition, yet now we have a government that is most definitely encroaching on individual rights and the so called patriotic militias are supporting it. There are others who aren't members of any militia that believe as they do, and in so doing believe themselves to be patriots. They decry government rule even as they support the very government that is attempting to rule every aspect of American life with an iron fist and total disregard for the laws and personal liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

Now consider the dissenters. Those who disagree with the policies that the current administration is attempting to force upon them. They are alarmed by the wanton disregard for the law of the land. They see the injustices being visited upon citizens, as well as would-be citizens. They see families being torn apart and lives being lost. They see our standing in the world rapidly disintegrating until we are no longer the beacon on the hill, but a blight in the night. And they are pushing back against a tyranny every bit as overreaching as that of King George III in the late 1700s. The difference is, they are doing everything they can legally, in direct opposition to the lawlessness of the current regime.

In the end people from both sides are going to insist they are “true ” patriots. I, however, believe the only ones with the right to call themselves such are the ones who are trying to uphold the country and not tear it apart. Not the ones who are trying to dismantle it.

c. 2026