Yes, I'm kidding. Sort of. Still, in the wake of Sept. 11, one can't help noticing that patriotism feels like a command performance. Maybe this is just a variation on familiarity breeding contempt, but when KP starts getting wiggy about Old Glory and ye ol' traditional values, it's possible that something's slightly a-kilter.
On the other hand, democracy is self-correcting and this, too, shall probably pass without undue damage to Our Way of Life. We're living in strange times, dodging mines in unfamiliar terrain, trying to figure out how to protect freedom and stay safe. It's a dicey path that demands vigilance and sometimes we slip.
In the immediate wake of the terrorist attacks, we were a tad exuberant in our patriotic zeal. I was (BEG ITAL) hunting flags to hang. In that initial emotional flush, we also were guilty of oversensitivity. If Bill Maher had made his statement (terrorists aren't cowards, we are) today, "Politically Incorrect" probably would still be on the air. Emotional distance allows for cooler heads.
The problem we face is that once patriotism drapes itself in the raiment of public virtue, it becomes something else, something oppressive, something decidedly un-American. It ain't freedom when it's forced. And hanging out a flag, though it may spiff up the neighborhood, isn't an act of patriotism unless it's voluntary.