I have a story to tell you.

Growing up in Mantador – a little town tucked into the southeast corner of North Dakota – I learned early on what the word "patriot" really meant.

Neighbors showed up for each other when the crops failed or when someone got sick. We gathered in school gyms for fundraisers and basketball games. When we stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, it wasn't about politics. It was about pride – and a deep gratitude for the place we called home.

That's where my sense of patriotism was born.

And it's the reason I chose a life of public service – first as North Dakota's Attorney General, then as a United States Senator, and now, through the One Country Project. Quite frankly, loving your country means working every day to make it better.

But lately, I've watched as Republican politicians have twisted being a patriot into something angry and exclusionary.

They'll wrap themselves in the flag while they sic ICE agents on parents, farm workers, and students who've done nothing but contribute to the communities they call home.

They stand at attention when our national anthem plays and still order the National Guard to intimidate and rough up people who speak up and challenge their power.

That's not patriotism. That's fear.

Republicans say you're only a patriot if you vote their way. If you watch their talking heads. If you echo their talking points. If you look and behave as they do. If you toe their line.

Well, I've got news for them: They're dead wrong.

True patriotism isn't about flexing power or punishing those who look or pray or sound or love differently. It's about being there for your neighbors in good times and bad. It's about rolling up your sleeves and making sure everyone has the freedom, opportunity, and security this country promises.

The America I know is the nurse working overnight shifts, the teacher buying school supplies out of her own money, and the farmer waking up before dawn to get a head start on the day.

So, when we see the Trump administration using fear and force against its own people, staying silent is not an option. We have to speak up for what real patriotism looks like: compassion, courage, and community.

At One Country Project, that's what we're fighting for every day – to make sure rural voices and rural values are heard loud and clear in Washington – because if we want our democracy to endure, we need to remember what binds us together as Americans.

Patriotism isn't theirs to define – it's ours to live.

Heidi

Heidi Heitkamp, Former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Founder, One Country Project