I feel about party loyalty the way I do about patriotism. True patriotism is love of country, not blind devotion to it. Love of country does not just involve pledging allegiance to the flag and celebrating the nation’s virtues. It means openly criticizing when your country errs, holding it accountable for its mistakes, working to make amends.
Looking the other way while wrapped in the flag, crowing my country right or wrong, is false patriotism. Many partisans—especially the dues-paying, convention-going kind—fall into the same patterns of behavior as false patriots. Their party can do no wrong, the other party can do no right, and they are quick to howl false equivalence and bothsidesism at any suggestion that maybe both parties leave something to be desired.
It’s no secret that I favor the Democratic Party when it comes to most elections. I ran for office as a Democrat. While I have written books about how both major parties are failing us in many ways, I do not believe for a second t…
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