Write the new Minnesota patriotism standards

MPR’s Tim Pugmire reports today several House GOPers are urging Gov. Mark Dayton to reject new Department of Education social studies standards because they do not stress the value of American patriotism.

Pugmire writes on MPR’s Capitol View blog…

In their letter, Daudt and Woodard complained that the standards de-emphasize the contributions of the United States and its economic and political ideals.

“Throughout the entire set of civic and history standards there is virtually no mention of the values of American patriotism,” they wrote.

The GOP leaders also noted that there are no mentions of Osama Bin Laden, the war on terrorism or the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

This sounds like an invitation to propose what would constitute standards that “emphasize the value of American patriotism.”

But first, you’ll want to read the proposed standards. They are 146 pages long. Read them here.

Then, come back and propose what you think isn’t in there that should be, and what’s in there that shouldn’t be.

If you don’t want to do the reading, perhaps we can start with a more basic question. What exactly is American patriotism?