Im head of Government Relations and Public Policy at wells fargo and im pleased to be here with you today. Were pleased to serve for the 8th year as a charter sponsor of the book festival and even prouder to watch it grow into the incredibly popular and impactful event it has become. I wouldnt be surprised [ applause ] thank you. I wouldnt be surprised to see us move the needle on some best seller lists today. But its even more important to keep the book festival a free event that serves the community. Its real purpose is literacy which leads to learning and opportunity which helps our goal in succeeding. Learning to love books is what the book festival is all about. In this session, ron chernow will describe his biography and certain other popular founding fathers. One thing i learned from the story of president grant is how people can evolve and through persistence and hard work, acknowledge and overcome their imperfections. Its an incredible story that reminded me that a person can
Patriots such as fanning joining me to discuss the nature of patriotism is danny surgeon a former army major who did combat tours in iraq and afghanistan and is the author of the book patriotic descent so you break. Patriotism down into 3 different forms but you lay those out for us yeah absolutely you know i like to litter a sion but they all start with p. And the 1st one the one that you just described that that you know rory fanning moment is the pageantry patriotism and the vast majority of americans especially on but not exclusively on the right if youre to this thats you know thank you for your service its percenters its maybe pick up your tab at t. G. I. Fridays the airport on your way to the next appointment it does not really deal with the reality of the experience of war or why were fighting them and what theyre actually like then the 2nd type i call you know passive principle patriotism but really could just be called passive resistance this is the polite imperial stuff this
The rally down fanning one of the demonstrators pulled out a flag that read vets against racism war and empire immediately someone threw a drink on me he told me i got hit from behind in the head 3 or 4 times it was quite a switch quite pivotal on me questioning the narrative questioning Donald Trumps narrative and i was suddenly out of their good graces nationalists who claim to be patriots do not really venerate veterans they only venerate veterans who read from the approved patriotic script americas the greatest the most powerful country on earth those we fight are to prayed to barbarians our enemies deserve death god is on our side victory is assured our soldiers and marines are heroes. Deviate from this cant no matter how many milli military tours you have served in you become despicable the vaunted patriotism of the right is about self adulation it is a raw lust for racism and violence it is blind subservience to the power of the state and it works to censor the reality of war an
Ethical foundation to really doesnt fuse all of the other types this is the rarest form but it it is out there and its funny because it is one of the most quickly denigrated of the dissents and folks will you know obviously make fun of people who think of themselves as citizens of humanity rather than a nation. When rory fanning the burly veteran who served in the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion and was deployed in afghanistan in 20022004 appeared at a donald trump rally in chicago it was wearing the top half of his combat fatigues as he moved through the crowd dozens of trucks supporter shouted greetings such as welcome home brother and thank you for your service then came the protest that shut the rally down fanning one of the demonstrators pulled out a flag that read vets against race. Ism war and empire immediately someone threw a drink on me he told me i got hit from behind in the head 3 or 4 times it was quite a switch quite pivotal on me questioning the narrative questioning Donald Tr
Welcome everybody. Im david, head of Public Policy at wells fargo. Im very pleased to be here with you today. We are still pleased to serve for the first year, and even prouder to what the book festival grow into the popular and impactful event its become. You wouldnt be surprised to see as move the needle on the best seller list. It is important to keep this free event. The library of Congress Real purpose is learning and opportunity, which matches our goal of allowing the community to succeed. Learning to love books and learning is part of what this session is about. If were lucky, certain other fanning font thirds will be discussed tonight. One thing that i learned from this story is how people can of all, and through persistence and hard work overcome their imperfections. Its an incredible story that reminded me that someone of goodwill can overcome their issues and realize great potential. The International Director of a break, and our moderator, the thank you. Welcome to the 18th