Bush legacy is the bankrupcy of patriotism

From MetaFilter by felix betachat:

One of the saddest legacies of the Bush years is going to be the way his reign of error has systematically bankrupted the very idea of patriotism. It's become synonymous with unblinking loyalty to a cabal of thugs. It used to mean pride in one's national institutions, respect for one's fellow citizens and a deep sense of obligation to devote oneself to the protection of both. After seven years of "L’État, c’est moi", we are left with a meat-grinder, plutocrat's war and a sorely impoverished national conversation.

All those kids who threw themselves into harm's way after September 11th have been betrayed so that Bush and his buddies could make some serious money. And those of their commanders who held onto a sense of personal honor and respect for the constitution have been mocked and tossed aside. Half of this administration's strategy seems to have been to empower savage bastards and the other half seems to have been to exploit decency wherever it could.

Is the far-right the only sector in American society that didn't respond to 9/11 with some sort of patriotic selflessness? How else to explain this unremitting stream of filth, this corruption of the very ties that bind American society together?