While surfing at Blog Explosion, I stumbled across an interesing blog entry, where the writer rants about flag waving three year olds. She writes, "There's nothing more moving than a small, impressionable child in the midst of a crowd waving a piece of cloth that represents your country, is there? ... I have to admit I get a different feeling when I see pictures like this. It's a sinking, disconnected feeling -- disgust, even."

I wrote the following response:

I would like to take a slightly different tack, especially since I am one of those hard core liberals in the United States, and since my three year old daughter loves to wave the flag.

First, do not confuse flag waving or patriotism with conservativism. I stand in a long line of liberals wrapping themselves in the flag and saying, "it is our flag too."

Second, while you may belittle the person that asks, "Why?" all the time, we need more people asking "why?" Why are we in Iraq? Why have social programs been cut? Why is the deficit (which my daughter will inherit) ballooning? Why are our rights eroding? Why is the environment getting worse?

If more people were like three year olds and asking why more often, we wouldn't be having the problems we are currently having.

As a final comment, I believe you underestimate what a three year old understands. I've talked with three year olds and I've talked with fifty year old conservatives. Often, the three year olds demonstrate a much higher level of understanding of the issues that face our country than the fifty year old conservatives.

They might talk in simpler terms about sharing nicely, not hitting people, appreciating the flowers around us and showing concern for people that are sick, but their understanding is often much greater than the fifty year old conservative.