Jensen knew what he was about to publish could ignite an extreme reaction from all audiences, including his own. He opens his article by acknowledging his actions, "By coincidence, the galley proofs for the piece came back to me for review a few days after September 11. I paused as I reread my words, and I thought about the reaction those words might spark, given the reflexive outpouring of patriotism in the wake of the terrorists attacks." Although his words could upset or outrage the public, this issue was too important to not focus on. Especially after the attacks, and all the talk about going to war with Afghanistan, Jensen felt it was his right to open the eyes of the public. He tried to point out that the public could no longer see past the media definition of patriotism. There were corrupt decisions being made, and all of them were taken in the name of patriotism. Jensen saw, and commented on, the politicians blindfolding Americans by waving flags, and selling pins. In all the commotion, we ended up at war and all we have to show for it are some bumper stickers, flags, and commemorative pins. When people listened to him talk they accused him of being anti-American, and unpatriotic. In the end of the article, he says to the citizens of America, "We must say goodbye to patriotism because the kind of America the peace-and-justice movement wants to build cannot be built on, or through, the patriotism of Americans."

The most common word throughout the piece is patriotism, yet I find myself reading multiple definitions. Jensen's first definition of patriotism is found early on in the reading; in fact it is the heading of a section. "Definition #1: Patriotism as loyalty to the war effort," means that the word is used in order to gain support for military causes. The government and media come together to influence the people, and say that it is the duty of the public to be patriotic. "We were attacked. We must defend ourselves. The only real way to defend ourselves is by military force. If you want to be patriotic, you should - you must - support the war." This was the basic idea that the President and television offered to the deeply wounded United States after September 11, 2001. Jensen disputes the idea, in the sense that, the people are hurting so bad that everyone will jump on the patriotic band wagon. No one stops to question the morality of the attacks, nor do the leaders stop to think about the consequences military action has on the world. The question Jensen asks is, do we abandon our right to think critically and rationally in order to supp

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Approximate Word count = 1734
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)