The definition of patriotism...

The nature of patriotism is an individual one, it invokes different thoughts, different feelings, different emotions and memories, and yet the basic and underlying definition of what it is and what it means is no where near as complex. The word, which claims it's root in ancient Greek and Latin word patris, or father, means, quite simply a loving devotion to ones mother or fatherland, to their country in a sense of national loyalty. It's pretty much the way most of us sum it up.

This election there has been a lot of talk about the nature of patriotism, about who is a patriot and who is not, about the place of national symbols and the place of a national identity amidst it all. Whether it is the assault on Presumptive Republican Nominee, Arizona Senator John McCain, and his war record by a group of radical Democrats bent on labeling him as a Manchurian Candidate who has betrayed his country, his country men and his fellow soldiers while a Prisoner of War during the Vietnam war, or the questions raised about the Presumptive Democratic Nominee, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, over his wife's statements saying that this election was the first time in her adult life she has ever been proud of America, over his pastor and spiritual mentor of twenty years vehemently anti-American sermons, or his own refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin, amongst other things. It hardly seems as their has been an election where candidates were expected to answer more questions about their patriotism then this one right here.

It isn't to say that this election is solely unique in raising questions of patriotism. As a freshman member of the United States Senate, Senator McCain can attest from his own part in the election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams it played a big part there, both sides trying to paint their opponent as potential traitors, one side claiming wanting to deliver the young Republic to France, the other claiming they would hand it back to the British. But right out in the open, this election has been unique in the sense that the questions of patriotism have not been from direct challenges from the two candidates, but from underground, new media, viral campaigns.

Well, with that in mind Senator Obama took the stage last week in Independence, Missouri, the childhood home of President Harry S. Truman, the place where the young future President learned his values at the local Sunday School and from his family, to talk about Patriotism, becoming the first major Party Presidential candidate most people can think of who actually had to do that.

Still, while his speech was full of noble sentiments and stories of the Founding Fathers, there cam be little doubt that there has to be an underlying sense that Senator Obama has been seeking to redefine the nature and the meaning of patriotism throughout his campaign. Whether it is through the implied meaning of what sacrifice is or his own attempts to distance himself from national symbols such as the flag, or his association with people such as the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a man who preached "Goddamn America" from his pulpit at a church Senator Obama attended for twenty years, there has been an underlying necessity for him to give what his definition of Patriotism is and what it should be.

Now we have to compare the words of that one speech with the words of his campaign, with his record, with his action and come to understand what his definition or effort to redefine patriotism really does mean for each of us and how it will potentially shape the future of America.

Tonight on Patriot Action Live join Matt and Wyatt as we take the opportunity to look at Senator Obama's efforts to redefine patriotism and talk about what it means for America. Take the chance to voice your thoughts, opinions and concerns in an open forum talk radio show while we tackle the issues around this controversial topic.

As always we are on at 8 pm EST, 5pm Pacific Time, atwww.blogtalkradio.com/patriotaction. We will see you there.

And don't forget to check us out for an exciting list of interviews coming in the next few weeks.

It's hard to even begin to imagine the sacrifice...

When they leave they are husbands and fathers, wives and mothers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, yet they are willing to put it all aside and stand up for that one great cause that they believe in, that one great fight they believe will make the world that much of a better place. We often sometimes hear their story, and if we don't, we can see some of it in their faces, in their eyes, in the slightly measured walks as they come home. Often I can't watch without feeling my heart fill with this overwhelming sense of gratitude for all that they have done, all they have sacrificed, in a calling they believe to be greater than anything any one of us can offer ourselves to in our day to day life.

Yet, amidst all of that, we sometimes forget the stories of the ones that they leave behind. The husband or wife that they look into the eyes of that one last time before they board their ship or climb on board of their plane, those children that they hold in their arms for that final time, holding extra tight, hoping and praying that they can hold on to their innocence for just a moment longer, hoping they will grow up in a world, that they will become brave, strong men and women of conviction and courage in a world that doesn't need the sacrifices they are about to, the mothers and fathers whose pain is so touching, so heart wrenching, so real.

Tonight on Patriot Action Live, joined by Katy Benko, an award winning country music singer/song writer who has performed for President George Bush and his wife at the White House, Senator John McCain during his No Surrender Tour, who has performed with Kenny Rogers, Brooks and Dunn and countless other big names in Country Music, we had the chance to hear one of those stories first hand from someone who knew it all too well, someone who lived it.

Katy is the writer and performer of A Soldiers Wife, a powerful, vivid song about what it is like, what one feels when they are the one left while their husband goes off to the far distant battlefields of war.

Marrying her College Sweetheart Ryan, a ROTC Candidate turned young Lieutenant, she watched as his Unit was called into active duty and he was sent overseas. Tonight, Katy took the opportunity to tell us her story and her husband's story, that of a man who she could only find herself admiring more, loving more, for the measure of sacrifice, duty and devotion that he showed. It was a story not only she felt but that she knew other military wives felt with their husbands called away from them, and, in that, it was a story she knew she had to tell.

A woman of passion and deep emotional commitment, it's impossible not to be carried away by her song, and by her story.

If you missed the show don't worry, you can still hear Katy's story. Join us at Patriot Action Live as we talk to A Soldiers Wife and remember the families and their devotion and service to the nation as well those they love who are serving.

Click here to listen.

And don't forget to vote for Katy's song at Music Nation.