Pissant
Patriots
Charlie Earl
Politicians,
bureaucrats and public servants of all stripes take an oath upon assuming
office. Upon uttering the final syllable many of them begin to violate their
vows. They represent the first wave of patriots who are neither patriotic nor
trustworthy. Because of their status as elite members of government, their
perfidy cannot be prosecuted and their accountability is nil. Their arrogance
is only exceeded by their narcissism because of their beliefs that their
positions and decisions are more worthy than ours. Thus… they do not consider
oath breaking to be a fault but rather oath taking as small insignificant step
towards their rightful places as our superior leaders. They are pissants
because their self-contained universe is filled with their self-important egos.
Know-it-alls,
do-gooders and grand schemers are another type of patriotic puissant. They
exude a sense of certitude when they proclaim their remedies for what ails the
rest of us. Their vast knowledge and flawless understanding of our weaknesses
and our failures allow them to pompously prescribe potent panaceas for all the
ills that plague our nation. Their usually statist remedies are based on their
assumption that we are incapable of managing ourselves and that the good of the
nation state would be best served if we would genuflect and acknowledge their superior
antidotes for what vexes us. They celebrate the power of the collective state
and consider themselves to be essential contributors to the common good. You’ll
find them scattered among the various universities, think tanks and non-profit
organizations that hover around the centers of power.
Pissantism
(my apologies) is not centered only in the political and intellectual classes.
Patriotic pissants are prevalent among the arts and the pseudo-arts. Many of
the members of the ‘artistic’ class appear to mentally stunted and emotionally
over loaded. First…allow me to admit a degree of bias about
artists….particularly actors. I find it difficult to take someone seriously
whose primary claim to fame is pretending to be someone else. It seems logical
to me that immersing oneself in numerous roles may cause one to have a stunted
self identity. Consequently…actors and artist must scramble to appear
self-aware, but lack the necessary cognitive abilities and solid personalities
to be truly independent agents. They tend to “go with the flow” and parrot the
talking points that permeate throughout their class. They claim their inane
utterances spring from the font of patriotism, but their mindless chatter
demeans the public discourse and adds little to our national conversation.
Their ignorance is often appalling, and their words verify their lack of
knowledge and depth.
Journalists
of all media represent a special sector of the pissant patriots. Their
unabashed and unashamed ignorance as they report the ‘news’…. real or
imaginary.. is truly dreadful. As the gatekeepers and guardians of the national
discussion, their failures, omissions and commissions are legendary. Perhaps their
greatest shortcomings are their dismissive attitudes regarding the capacity of
the people and the context of the Constitution of the United States. A genuine
Fourth Estate press corps is vital for a republic. Citizens must have
unvarnished and untarnished information about the activities of their elected
and appointed stewards. When the news disseminators become mouthpieces and
flacks for government (in the name of patriotism), the tenuous tentacles of
trust are severed and the people are not truly informed. Likewise…. when the
journalists insist on berating, downgrading or degrading principled politicians
simply because of their points of view, they subvert the element of trust
between the citizen and the representative. Pissant journalists represent the
vast majority of their “profession.” Their ignorance is exceeded only by their
willingness to be tools for the statists.
“Pissant or
piss-ant” is a real term that usually means: of little value or significance. I
have not chosen this term to insult those whom I describe as pissants. If I had
wanted to demean them, I would have selected a more accurately descriptive term
such as “sh_theads.” The unfortunate aspect of this discussion is that while
the pissants have little value or significance, they continue to influence a
large number of citizens who confuse celebrity status with cerebral capacity.
We and they should note that the path to liberty rarely goes through an ant
colony. Stomp the pissants!!
Charlie Earl
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