I have on occasion been called unpatriotic.

This is, of course, a highly offensive charge. The integrity of one’s patriotism is a precious jewel that must be protected. Someone who is unpatriotic is a non-person. Someone who is unpatriotic is a potential terrorist. Someone who is unpatriotic should be detained for questioning.

But lately, I’ve been questioning the idea of patriotism. What is it, actually? Love for one’s country? Okay. And then what?

I believe in American values. I love the philosophy that all people are created equal. I love the idea of a melting pot of cultures. I love living in a country that is ruled by the majority will of the people, while still protecting the rights of the minority and the individual. Does that make me patriotic?

I think America sometimes does bad things in the world and I think we should stop. I think our current leadership is reckless and irresponsible when yielding American power. I think that we have made a lot of progress in securing the rights for all of our people, but we still have a considerable way to go. Does that make me unpatriotic?

I was against the Iraq War. Did that make me unpatriotic? I’m still against it. Does that make me patriotic?

Does being patriotic mean valuing American lives over lives of non-Americans? If so, is patriotism really something to be respected and admired? Does patriotism for people in other countries mean valuing the lives of their countrymen over Americans? If so, is patriotism still something to be respected and admired?

I would hate to think that something as important and cherished as patriotism was only admirable within one’s own country. That would make it shallow and meaningless, and patriotism is much too important for that. Who do we want to be patriotic? Can patriotism be criticized in those whose nations have committed horrible atrocities in the past? What about when we’ve been that nation?

Are these light and airy questions of no consequence, asked by a sheltered academic who takes for granted the comfortable freedoms provided by his country? Or do our answers to these questions affect our policies – who we allow to cross our borders, what standards we apply to the decision to go to war, how we structure international trade, how we respond to human suffering abroad – making them of the utmost importance?

And does even asking these questions make me unpatriotic? Or is asking difficult questions in a democratic society highly patriotic?

So with all of that in mind, the Question of the Week is this:

What does patriotism mean to you?

I stand by my earlier statements about 2008, including the fact that it’s way too early to start speculating about who our next president is going to be in any meaningful way. But it’s not too early to take an interest in the potential candidates.

And I guess it would make sense to start with a Republican I like, since that’s an endangered species and I try to be fair and balanced.

There has been some talk about a Chuck Hagel run in 2008. If we absolutely must have a Republican candidate, I think we could do a lot worse.

I particularly like how he’s willing to go on the television and say things like this:

SCHEIFFER: Let me ask you this, Senator. Vice President Cheney says this sort of thing undercuts the troops. What’s your response?

HAGEL: Let me tell you this. I served in Vietnam in 1968. Others did too. Jim Webb, John McCain. John Kerry. Other members in the House. In 1968 when I was there with my brother, worst year, deaths, I would have welcomed the Congress of the United States to pay a little attention as to what was going on. I would have welcomed that. That is complete nonsense to say we’re undercutting the support of the troops. What are we about? We’re Article 1 of the Constitution. We are co-equal branch of government. Are we not to participate? Are we not to say anything? Are we not to register our sense of where we’re going in this country on foreign policy? Bottom line is this: our young men and women and their families, these young men and women who are asked to fight and die deserve a policy worthy of those sacrifices. I don’t think we have one now.

It’s rare to find a Republican willing to be vocal in opposition to the policies of the Bush administration. And he’s been willing to do that for some time now. In other words, he is willing to put country over party.

Now, you shouldn’t take this as an endorsement. There’s no way I could vote for him. He’s still a Republican and he votes like one. But I do think he has wisdom and integrity. And those are two important things we’re lacking in our present-day leadership.

But what kind of president would he make? There’s no way of knowing. The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of the dusk.