“The fact is, there are a lot of Neils in America — white guys in a near-constant state of fear about their personal safety. And rather than being merely pitiful, guys like Neil are actually dangerous.
They’re the hyper-armed neighbors with itchy trigger fingers, who are convinced they’ll be the victims of a home invasion; who treat any Black or brown person as an imminent threat; who see foreign terrorists behind every bush; who believe the government is trying to poison them, plant a chip inside them, or take away their hunting rifles; who think that crime is far worse than it is and on the verge of spilling into outright anarchy.For a particular type of frightened man, this fear manifests itself in bullying and performative machismo.” – Joe Haden, Salon
Fantasy is not real, it’s merely fantasy.
Obsession with a fantasy that appears to summon heroes is the spin of political manipulation. Particularly it is an extreme so-called “patriotic” spin that seems to be endorsed by broadcast drugstore patriot networks and personalities.
So what drives an attempted public display of strong sounding but still drugstore performance of swearing life’s blood to defend family and home from imaginary villains. They would be the very villains creatively portrayed by Fox News, the alt-right, the NRA, the government coming for your guns, cut and paste internet meme makers (or perhaps Russian hackers trying to undercut and divide our supposed patriotic solidarity that may or may not exist. ) The imaginary – for example, a mysterious Sharia Law that has about as much probability of being forced on America as an elephant can hang over a cliff with its tail tied to a daisy. But if you’re sweating tonight, whatever keeps you up is in the same tradition of how the Nightmare on Elm Street kept you up at night when you were a little kid.
All I can venture is a perceptual speculation based on behavior, verbiage and posturing.
Most posturers appear to be dying to be seen publicly wearing symbols of patriotism on their sleeves.
But it is definitely not patriotism nor any kind of mature stance based on absolute principal, not to mention the highest good of all concerned.
It is in fact nothing more than grandstanding through posture.
Curmudgeon at Work 