The performative patriot — all flag, no patriotism
By Tim Bearly
Reader Contributor
He’s like Bruce Wayne, at least that’s how he fancies himself. But rather than using his immense wealth to help the people in his community, he scapegoats the destitute, whom he regards as leeches on the system. Ignoring the Bat-Signal and scoffing with indignation, he laments: “Those indolent freeloaders need to stop making bad decisions. The best thing I can do for them is nothing, so they can become self-reliant. They need to learn, like me, to start businesses from the ground up. Nobody is going to hand it to them!” (Omitting the fact that he inherited Wayne Enterprises.)
With the profit from his family firm, he bribes politicians to gut the worker-protection laws and other regulations that inhibit his wealth accumulation. Publicly, he proclaims, “America first.” Privately, he offshores the manufacturing of the Batmobile. All the while, he waves a flag, praises God and smiles for the cameras.
He looks like a patriot and quacks like a patriot, but this quack is all flag, all cross and no conscience. He hides in his billionaire Batcave while the people suffer. Indeed, he’s just another performative patriot.
Of course, it would be a mistake to think that this reimagined version of Batman is exclusively about the fat man, Donald Trump, or Elon Musk. Certainly, as we can all see, phony patriots abound. Sure, Trump and Elon are like the Batman and Robin of government corruption; however, this is clearly not an isolated caricature, but one example of a pervasive political charlatanry that deals in empty slogans and platitudes, fake populism, duplicitous pandering, all while demonstrating a complete dereliction of patriotic duty.
If you ask me, a true patriot is someone like Hugh Thompson Jr., who, upon witnessing the war crimes of the My Lai Massacre, had the courage to intervene and confront his own side in order to protect unarmed civilians who were being slaughtered indiscriminately. Finding himself in a similar situation, the performative patriot would first ask himself what course of action would most likely elevate his career or earn him the approval of his tribe.
Like a skilled method actor, he cloaks himself in symbols of loyalty while quietly measuring every moral choice against its personal cost or benefit. Though he derides “virtue signaling,” he takes great care to be seen praying in public and proudly singing along to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” Doing the right thing, however, especially when it means deviating from the group consensus or sacrificing profit, is anathema to him. Rather than being guided by the magnetic pull of his purported ethical beliefs, his moral compass always points in the same direction: self-interest.
With such a wretched disposition, one cannot expect to win any popularity contests. Hence the need for his well-rehearsed, grand performance. Ordinarily, homophobes like him are averse to the flamboyance of the theater, yet his talent for political acting is indubitably fit for the stage. If politics doesn’t work out for him, he and Robin can get in their leotards, emerge from the Batcloset and pursue careers on Broadway.
From that stage, much like the political theater, they can continue convincing audiences — just as they convinced voters — that they truly care about the working class and homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments. There, they can slash education budgets under the guise of “fixing” education, perform elaborate numbers about tax relief while quietly engineering tax cuts for the wealthy and sprint across the stage draped in the flag, basking in patriotic applause while their insatiable greed lurks just behind the curtain.
Scratch beneath the thin surface of red, white and blue, and you will discover that we have our share of performative patriots here in North Idaho.
We also, fortunately, have our share of genuine patriots, all across the political spectrum. People who fly the flag with pride, but who also recognize that collectivism and individualism do not have to be mutually exclusive, and that caring for the less fortunate and respecting those with different beliefs and lifestyles is not un-American, nor part of any cultural Marxist plot, but an essential component of patriotism.
Like Hugh Thompson Jr.’s actions during the My Lai Massacre, real patriots do not blindly obey authority. They understand that power must always be questioned and challenged, because when those in power act with impunity, without anyone to hold their feet to the fire, corruption becomes inevitable. Condemning corruption only when the opposition engages in it while turning a blind eye when one’s own party does the same is the epitome of political hackery and the industry standard for the performative patriot, who places partisan and moneyed interests above the interests of the country.
If the word “patriotism” is going to mean anything at all, then this sort of performative charade must be confronted wherever it appears, regardless of party, ideology or personal allegiance.
The United States will continue to regress so long as loyalty to tribe and the unquenchable thirst for more wealth supersedes loyalty to countrymen, community and the common good.
Tim Bearly is a writer and musician from Sandpoint who draws inspiration from George Orwell’s words, “I write because there is some lie that I want to expose.”
