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Deep Roots of American Patriotism

Americans are unhappy about the state of the nation these days. Around two-thirds in recent polls say the country is on the wrong track. In a poll last week, 73 percent said they were dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country. Around six in ten of us know someone other than a family member who has lost a job in the past six months. What’s striking about these attitudes is their duration–people have been giving these very negative responses to the pollsters for several years.

The deep pessimism about current conditions may also be seeping into our views of the future. In some polls people are telling the pollsters that America’s children will have a lower standard of living than their parents have had.

The widespread gloom makes the responses to a collection of polls we have compiled especially impressive. Our new American Enterprise Institute Public Opinion Study Attitudes on Patriotism and Military Service shows that while Americans are dissatisfied with current performance, they continue to express strong patriotic sentiments.

In a CBS News poll from May, 86 percent described themselves as extremely (61 percent) or very (25 percent) proud to be an American. Only 1 percent said they were only a little or not at all proud. These feelings cross all demographic groups. Republicans, Democrats, and independents were proud as were young and old and black, white, and Hispanic.

Read AEI’s public opinion study on patriotism and military service. Only small numbers say they would leave the United States to live somewhere else if given an opportunity.

International poll comparisons show us that Americans are more likely than people elsewhere to say they are very proud of their nationality and that they would rather be a citizen of their country than any other. These sentiments make us Americans.

Our exceptionalism doesn’t mean we are better than people in other countries, but we are qualitatively different. The strength of patriotic sentiment and our willingness to express it stand out as one of those areas of difference.

Poll questions that ask people about the fundamental soundness of our system of government also produce positive assessments. More than three-quarters of those surveyed recently by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Washington Post, and Harvard University said that our system of government is the best in the world. You probably wouldn’t have reached that conclusion by reading the headlines lately.

Americans define their patriotism broadly. Serving in the military is viewed as very patriotic by large majorities of Americans. But Americans also believe that voting, volunteering, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, working hard at a job, and even paying your fair share of taxes are expressions of patriotism.

Ours is not a blind or unthinking love of country. We know our faults and are vocal about them. But American patriotism has deep roots, and gloomy forecasts are unlikely to uproot it.

Karlyn Bowman is a senior fellow at AEI. Andrew Rugg is a research assistant at AEI.
You can find this article online at http://www.aei.org/article/103802




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Presidents propose and Congress disposes

On September 23, 2021, the US House of Representatives voted 420:9 to replenish the Israeli-developed defensive “Iron Dome” missiles, which are increasingly manufactured – and eventually exported – by the US defense company Raytheon, that benefits from the battle-tested “Israeli laboratory.”

The overwhelming vote reflects Congressional realization that the “Iron Dome”:

*Enhances Israel’s posture of deterrence, which is critical to the survival of all pro-US Arab regimes and minimization of regional instability;
*Reduces the need for full-scale Israeli wars on Palestinian and Islamic terrorism;
*Provides an alternative to Israeli military ground-operations against Palestinian terrorists, which would entail substantial Israeli and Palestinian fatalities;
*Represents joint US-Israel interests, militarily and technologically, in the face of mutual threats (e.g., Islamic terrorism) and mutual challenges (e.g., developing world-class, game-changing technologies).

*Constitutes another example of the systematic support by Congress of enhanced US-Israel cooperation.

The decisive role played by Congress in the replenishment of the “Iron Dome” underscores the cardinal rule of the US political system: The President proposes, but Congress disposes.

The involvement of Senators and House Representatives in foreign policy and national security-related issues has surged since the Vietnam War, Watergate and Iran Gate scandals, the dismantling of the USSR (which transformed the world from a bi-polar to a multi-polar) and rapidly-expanding globalization.

In fact, former Secretary of State, Jim Baker, complained about the growing congressional assertiveness in the area of foreign policy: “You can’t conduct foreign policy with 535 Secretaries of State….”  Former Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, criticized Congress for micromanaging the defense budget: dictating how much to spend on particular weapons, imposing detailed requirements and programmatic restrictions, venturing into policy-setting and requesting that the Department of Defense submits mountains of reports.

Congressional muscles 

The US Congress is the most powerful legislature in the world, and it has demonstrated its co-equal, co-determining muscle in the areas of foreign and defense policies on many occasions, such as:

*Imposing sanctions against foreign countries in defiance of Presidents Clinton, Obama and Trump (e.g., Egypt – 2012, Iran – 1996-97 and 2013, Russia – 2017);
*Non-ratification of the 2015 JCPOA, which enabled withdrawal by the US;
*The 2009 non-closure of the Guantanamo Detention Camp was led by Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (NV-D), in defiance of President Obama.
*The 2009 non-confirmation of Charles Freeman to the Director of National Intelligence was led by Senator Chuck Schumer (NY-D);
*The 1999 non-ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in defiance of President Clinton and the international community;
*The unprecedented expansion of US-Israel strategic cooperation took place despite stiff opposition by President Bush and Secretary of State Baker;
*The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act overrode President Reagan’s veto;
*The 1984 Boland Amendment aborted President Reagan’s financial and military aid to anti-Communist elements in Nicaragua;
*The 1983 blocking of President Reagan’s attempted coup against the Surinam pro-Soviet regime;
*The 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act mandated congressional authorization of surveillance of persons and organizations, which may threaten national security;
*The 1975/76 Tunney (CA-D) and Clark Amendments stopped financial and military covert support of the opposition to the pro-Soviet regime in Angola;
*The 1973 Church-Case Amendment ended funding of military involvement in Southeast Asia;
*The 1973 War Powers Act overrode President Nixon’s veto;
*The Jackson-Vanik Amendment preconditioned aid to Moscow upon free immigration.

Congress empowered by the Constitution

As documented in the aforementioned paragraphs, one is advised to note that while Congress is preoccupied with District and State issues, it has the power to both propose and dispose in the areas of foreign and defense policies.

The US Constitution aspires for a limited government and a non-monarchical president, and therefore does not limit Congress to overseeing the budget. It provides the Senate and the House of Representatives with the power to act on strategic issues and policy-setting.

The Constitution accords Congress ”the power of the purse,” oversight of government operations, ratification of treaties, confirmation of key appointments, declaration of war, funding of military operations and cooperation with foreign entities, creation and elimination of government agencies, imposing sanctions on foreign governments, etc.

In other words, the President is the “commander in-chief” within constraints, which are set by Congress.




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