The Patriotism Police

Editor & Publisher has a commentary on the return of "Bill Moyers Journal" this Wednesday entitled, "Buying the War". In reading it, I came upon this...

Walter Isaacson is pushed hard by Moyers and finally admits, "We didn't question our sources enough."

But why? Isaacson notes there was "almost a patriotism police" after 9/11 and when the network showed civilian casualties it would get phone calls from advertisers and the administration and "big people in corporations were calling up and saying, 'You're being anti-American here.'"

That phrase, that I had not heard before, really resonated with me. I know that I've been grilled by "The Patriotism Police" many times, and even some members of my family are de facto officers.

The commentary on the Moyers show is worth a read, as is this article (ha) from Slate that I also found when googling "Patriotism Police"- The Anti-War Democrats: They're naive and clumsy. Is that so wrong?(from 2002)

Then top it all off with this Tom Tomorrow* cartoon, and you have learned something today.

Sadder than I was a few hours ago, but I learned something.

*Link fixed