I knew that post would draw conversation from certain quarters ...

bae, how long has that memorial been at your fire station? Is there a reason a chunk of the World Trade Center figures prominently? Are the losses of those firefighters' lives more worth commemorating than those of any other firefighters'? Why don't I see old guys wearing baseball caps labeled "Remember Seattle's Bravest"? Surely Seattle has lost firefighters in the course of duty. What about them and the losses of their families?

I have no problem commemorating the service of firefighters, police officers, and members of the military. They deserve commemoration. What I'm pointing out is that, for some reason, there are damn few public monuments to firefighters and police officers who've died over the course of the decades but a shower of coverage every September 11th for those specific people. I don't see red/white/blue ribbons on the back of cars and trucks urging us to "never forget" the state troopers who died when drunks ran into their patrol car during a traffic stop. Why does 9/11 get singled out so much? Yes, they were doing their job. So were all the other first responders everywhere, on September 10 and April 23 and December 25. As I said, I deny them nothing. I just want to know why the 9/11 responders seem so ... "anointed".

Alan, I can define patriotism just as ably as you can. Or anyone else can. Patriotism is not reserved for those who have served on front lines. And false patriotism is out there. It's that nonsense about questioning one's devotion to country in not wearing a flag lapel pin. It's implying that those who have not taken oaths to protect and defend are somehow less patriotic than those of us who have. It's in not challenging authority when authority clearly has its own agenda. Is it unpatriotic to suggest that something is afoot when Obama wants to lead a "surgical" strike in Syria despite the reticence of a vast majority of the American people and the international community? Was it unpatriotic to challenge the garbage evidence that Bush 43's regime provided when he wanted to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11? Why is it that it was "patriotic" to go shopping after 9/11 but not to take concrete steps to reduce American dependence on oil from these dictatorships -- like imposing a carbon tax? Why is it still considered unpatriotic to suggest that blank checks written on behalf of armed forces budgets and the shredding of the Constitution by the NSA and FISA could stand a little reasonable examination? Why are people so upset about Snowden but not about the massive amount of spying on American citizens which he exposed and which was categorically denied by those perpetrating it? Why doesn't December 7 get the press every year that 9/11 does? How was that different?

Patriotism is not just "my country, right or wrong" or "if you don't like it, leave". Unfortunately, that's where things have been headed for a long time. That's false patriotism. Putting a "remember our troops" sticker on the back of your single-occupant SUV for your 40-mile commute to work very often (note use of the qualifier) is false patriotism. Flag waving without discussing and embarking on a change of course to fix the problem is just making noise.