“America, love it or leave it” was first popularized by newspaper columnist Walter Winchell as a defense of McCarthyism in the 1940s and 1950s. We saw it again in the 1960s and 1970s to counter Vietnam War protesters. And it appeared once more in the lead-up to the Iraq War in 2003, when many questioned President George W. Bush’s decision to attack.
Patriotism used to quell opposition to government policy is false patriotism. Peaceful dissent is an important foundation of the Constitution. Rather than accept America as it is or leave, let’s acknowledge our country’s problems and work to fix them. That’s closer to our Founders’ ideas and a true sense of our American spirit. The following six posters are a series meant to reframe the notion of patriotism.
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