So what do I think of when I think of patriotism? Fucking Independence Day, man. I mean the President’s speech? If that’s not some great piece of rhetoric then I don’t know what is. There’s a lot future tense there which Heinrichs talks about being a great way to get the audience involved (and ultimately unable to argue) with a given presentation of ideas. If you want to talk about an awesomely large dose of patriotism then look at Bill Pullman’s speech. Sorry Barack, but I’d prefer that Bill lead me quietly through the night when (and I say when because an alien invasion is inevitable, Signs and The X-Files made that clear to me) the aliens come to attack.
That speech nearly brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it. Of course I was about eight and I was also terrified that the aliens would come and abduct me and my family as well, but dude, it’s just a good speech. Why? Because like Heinrich’s says, it instills patriotism by attaching a group identity to an “us” versus “them” mentality. It is us against the aliens and you’re either in or you’re out. All great movie or television speeches that try to invoke patriotism do this and do it successfully.