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Letter: Patriotism is loyalty to the country, not to a person

(Manuel Balce Ceneta | AP file photo) President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the Brady press briefing room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, in Washington.

Patriotism. Nowhere in the definition of this word, does it say loyalty to a party or a person. Love of one’s country is mentioned, along with unquestionable integrity.

In the movie “Braveheart,” William Wallace chooses disembowelment over professing loyalty to an evil king. I’m guessing those who have seen the movie were pulling for Wallace for the entire film. His disloyalty to the evil king was not even a speck of my thought process in considering the moral issue portrayed in the film.

Is loyalty to a man or the party a requirement today? Are Republicans in office there to represent us, or to praise the king, for fear of retribution?

People can vote for whoever they want, but is loyalty to a Republican president a requirement for a senator from Utah?

Tim Quinn, R-Heber City, proposed a bill that would allow voters to recall a U.S. senator. The process to expel a House or Senate member with a two-thirds vote already exists in the Constitution.

Shouldn’t a president’s actions alone merit support, without a pledge of loyalty?

When the people we vote for to represent us as a whole pledge loyalty to a man or to a party, we are not represented, as a whole.

Tom Kudla, Heber City

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