14 Comments
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David Lesieur's avatar

Thank you for the Coolidge quote, it was new to me.

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Andrew Murphy's avatar

You are off to a great start.

I wish you much success.

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Jay Nordlinger's avatar

Thx a ton, AM.

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Andrew Murphy's avatar

I might be your only subscriber who graduated from Louisiana State University in Shreveport. Our NAIA baseball team is currently 54-0.

Might want to look them up and give them a mention. Go Pilots.

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Jay Nordlinger's avatar

Fantastic!

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Andrew Murphy's avatar

Forgot to mention: They start the NAIA College World Series Friday-

in Montana. Give ’em some love, please.

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L. McKee's avatar

Thank you for such a meaningful essay.

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Jay Nordlinger's avatar

A pleasure.

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Kay Gabrysch's avatar

I wanted to add that I am so grateful to you for starting this substack. You are a true conservative voice, and as this piece demonstrates, a "patriot" in the truest sense of the word. Thank you Jay, I too wish you abundant success.

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Jay Nordlinger's avatar

Many thx, KG.

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Kay Gabrysch's avatar

Thank you Jay. If you haven't read Paul D. Miller's excellent book, The Religion of American Greatness, I commend it to you. In a chapter differentiating between true patriotism and the nationalism we are seeing today (illustrated in your description of Noem's ridiculous performance) he says, "Nationalists emphasis on sovereignty and cultural independence often gives rise to a certain attitude of national chauvinism, a cultural pride that veers into a prickly, belligerent insistence on recognition...essentially requires nations to compare themselves to and compete with other nations." There are many more enlightening statements like this one that describe who we are under this administration. He wrote this book in 2022, when so many of us were sure that we would elect this man again.

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Scott Brockway's avatar

A proper perspective of ‘America First.’ Coolidge had it right - we are all united in our humanity - from the AOC-Sanders Progressive to the MAGA Populist. As always, well done, Mr. Nordlinger.

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Jay Nordlinger's avatar

Thx a ton.

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Patrick Brennan's avatar

Dear Jay,

What makes a "Patriot;" what makes a "Rebel," rascal or enemy?

During the Bicentennial (was that really 50 years ago?), participating in historical re-enactment, I discovered that many "Patriots" were on the "other side." Ben Franklin's son was the Royal Governor of New Jersey; the entire New York City borough of Richmond (Staten Island) was aligned with the British cause; much of upper New York State raised militia units loyal to the Crown. After the Revolution a goodly number of "Patriotic" colonials relocated to "Upper Canada" in order to remain British subjects.

I wonder: if the real issue at stake for the colonies was only "taxation without representation," would the revolution have resulted in the formation of an independent, constitutional republican democracy. If the "Rebel" colonials had been "Patriots" in 1776, might Canada really be the 51st state today?

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