For decades now — or at least since the leftist hordes were shouting “Dissent is patriotic!” during the George W. Bush years — the word “patriot” and all its permutations have been off limits to the Left. Not because it’s been forbidden from adopting these terms, but because their meaning is utterly at odds with everything the Left stands for.

Perhaps the last time a Democrat used the term affirmatively was back in 2003, when Hillary Clinton shrieked, “I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you’re not patriotic! And we should stand up and say, ‘We’re Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration!’”

And so, ever since, they’ve looked askance at anyone who picks up the mantle of “patriot.” More than that, though, they’ve weaponized the word. Think about the Obama years, when one of the primary methods the IRS used for isolating and targeting conservative groups was the appearance of the term “patriot” in their organizational name.

Having thus far failed to banish the red-blooded Patriots from their midst, however, the America-hating Left is now equating patriotism to extremism.

For example, during a recent morning segment on its obsession with QAnon, CBS morning anchor Anne Marie Green asked tech reporter Dan Patterson how people can tell if they’re on an extremist website that can’t be trusted. He answered, “One word to look out for, a key word, is ‘patriot.’”

In essence, “patriot” has replaced “Nazi” insofar as the Left is concerned.

Patriots, of course, are those who love their country; those who put their country before all other countries; those who defend it against her detractors. In other words, Patriots are the mortal enemies of those on the Left — even those in government. As political analyst Gary Bauer writes:

Some government agencies, including the Pentagon, are identifying so-called ‘extremists’ by whether they frequently discuss the Constitution. You know, the owner’s manual of our country.

I laughed, but I almost cried the other day, when I read a piece by a liberal New York Times editor. She dared to venture out into the hinterlands of Long Island, New York, and was traumatized when she saw so many “disturbing” American flags on pickup trucks.

We remember that story. In fact, we wrote about it.

“What is happening to our country is a cultural genocide,” Bauer concludes “Leftist elites are attacking and tearing down every symbol of the American Republic. Why? Because … the American Republic is an impediment to the Marxist state they’re trying to force on us.”

All this interests us greatly — and not just because the word “Patriot” appears on our masthead. When Patriots and patriotism are demonized and not defended vigorously, it’s a sign that the republic for which they stand is living on borrowed time.