It was in the 1960s that the left convinced itself that there is something fascistic about patriotism and something perversely “patriotic” about running down America. Anti-Americanism – a stand-in for hatred of Western civilization – became the stuff of sophisticates and intellectuals as never before. Flag burners became the truest “patriots” because dissent – not just from partisan politics, but the American project itself – became the highest virtue.
