The London Olympic Games not only provided lots of entertainment and something to talk about other than politics in the doldrums of summer, they also challenged the liberal suspicion of patriotic spectacle and, indeed, of patriotism. For liberals, however patriotic they may be themselves, always know that patriotism is the major obstacle standing in the way of the one-world utopian dream to which modern liberalism is committed. Here, for instance, are the thoughts of a Colorado radio talk show host named David Sirota, writing at Salon.com:

As I’ve grown older, I find my “USA!”-chanting reflex increasingly interrupted by pangs of discomfort, and not because I’m ashamed of our country or our Olympians. . . . Missed in the ensuing red-white-and-blue hoopla, of course, is the fact that we are not so exceptional outside the Olympic village. . . . We are not gold, silver, or even bronze medalists when it comes to healthcare; sadly, we are 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality. . . . If we do stand atop a dais anywhere other than at a sporting event, it is for military spending, carbon emissions, and incarceration rates.

Old-timers like myself have been reading this kind of thing for more than forty years now—back then patriotism was incompatible with progressivism because of racism and Vietnam—and yet with every reiteration, the point is repeated as if it were the writer’s own triumph of ratiocination, an airtight logical proof