I got into an interesting debate on my Facebook page Tuesday night that ended with my patriotism being called into question.

Since my last column on the political scene I have found myself locked squarely in step with the Libertarian party. You can call me a kook, whacko, nut job, dummy or whatever, but after a long political journey it’s where I comfortably fit in and feel most at home.

But how dare someone question my loyalty to this country or say you can only love this country if you vote for a certain party?

The quote I’m referring to is this one and I correct it grammatically here: “Anyone that votes for Obama in November just shows us they don’t love America and needs to leave right along with Obama in November. Just saying.”

Never in all this debate did I say I was voting for Obama and I don’t believe those that do love America any less or more than myself.

That was essentially my response and the comeback was this: “Don’t we just love the liberals and if you vote for anyone other than a GOP then you don’t care.”

I personally like all sorts of people and base my friendships on common interests that aren’t always tied up in politics. In fact, politics are very low on the friendship criteria scale.

It’s like in sports, I have friends and family who are Dallas Cowboys fans and I don’t disown them because I’m a Redskins fan.

I don’t disown people because they vote a certain way. Instead, I try to learn from them and in the discussions I have with them I find they care about this country, too. They wouldn’t be going into ballot booths and voting if they didn’t.

My feeling on this is Democrats and Republicans fought alongside each other in World War II and are still doing so in the wars today. Are you going to question their patriotism?

You don’t really hear much talk about the political parties the founding fathers belonged to and I don’t think for a second it mattered to them as much as preserving the republic and the Constitution.

In all of this, I truly believe that if you want to boil patriotism down to political party then the ones which defend the Constitution are the most patriotic of all and the ones which have trampled it are the least patriotic.

Patriotism can’t be boiled down to God, guns and glory. It can only be boiled down to whether you love the Constitution or don’t.

Everyone has to live with the decisions they make at the polls and I would say the overwhelming majority who do go to the polls care about and love this country or they wouldn’t bother going.

To say if you vote for one party over the other is in some way a measure of your patriotism is absurd and I, for one, do love this country and the freedoms it brings us.

That means the freedom to call me an idiot and say I don’t love this country and the freedom to say something as ludicrous as if you vote for anyone “other than a GOP then you don’t care.”

You can say what you want about me, but you can never question my love for the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees us — Lance Martin