Donald Trump and wealthy elites on the Right have always spouted shallow, surface-level, insincere praise for soldiers while cutting their benefits, throwing them into meaningless wars for profit, and viewing them as disposable guards of their power and fortunes.

For decades we have watched the Right wrap themselves in faux-patriotism, the meaninglessness of flags and symbols, and rabidly attack the Left as traitors, all while using our military and tax dollars to help their own business interests.

It’s a scam. It’s always been a scam.

What Trump has done is make clear the “patriotism” of the Right was never real. It was a cudgel. A lie told to advance their political and economic interests. It’s always been hollow and it’s always reeked of opportunism and fascism.

It’s time to move beyond it.

The Right hides behind the rhetoric of faux-patriotism because it’s a winning strategy. It scorches political discourse, breeds conspiracy theories and fascism, but it taps into the poisonous myths of America. It’s a lie, a toxic lie. And it will destroy us if we don’t reject it.

Flags are meaningless. Songs are meaningless. They’re symbols that only exist to represent something real. The Right is just peddling hollow symbols for power and profit and selling it as patriotism. It’s not. It’s narcissism and fascism dressed in star-spangled robes.

What Donald Trump said about veterans and soldiers who have died is what the Right has been saying and thinking for years. It's the worldview that there is a strict hierarchy, with the wealthy and powerful at the top and a bunch of suckers, losers, and dupes there to serve them.