Lately, patriotism has gone overboard. Stories of "freedom toast" and "Star Spangled ice cream" are in the media every day. Remember the days following 9/11? Rows of flags were displayed in front yards. In an extreme case, my neighbor had a stack of about 50 flags with a "take me" sign for patriotic enthusiasts. Since I had never flown one before, I didn't see reason to follow the sheep and display one myself. In fact, there are actually good reasons for refusing to run out and buy as many American flags as possible in a show of patriotism. Many of these American flags display both the Stars and Stripes and a label reading "Made in China." Our very symbol of freedom is probably made by children earning something like 12 cents a day. More flags equals more kids in sweatshops, and there is nothing patriotic about that. But we didn't stop with the flags, this time, as we did after 9/11. We decided that food also defines patriotism.

When Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, the chair of the House Administration Committee, decided to rename french fries in Congressional cafeterias "freedom fries," it made newspaper headlines the next day. Having lived in India, I remembered a time when right-wing Hindu extremists re-named several British-made landmarks by the names of famous past royalty. The landmarks were built by the British during their occupation of India, and that is not going to change by renaming them. Similarly, why should we rename a contribution by the French with any other name? And we should at least get our facts straight - fries were invented in Belgium, and if anything, grease, potatoes and salt sound infinitely more British than French.

Critics of the French have declared that their refusal to join the "coalition of the willing" is worth dumping both French wine and the United Nations into historical insignificance. Now, with Operation Iraqi Freedom underway, I don't see any reason to condemn the French who, after all, gave us the Statue of Liberty. Isn't that a much more tangible version of freedom than the Iraqi people will see for a long time to come?

"Nationalism can reach to very primitive levels of thought," according to Professor Edward Kaplan (COML). If the "freedom fries" aren't patriotic enough, a new company decided that patriotism is a marketable commodity - especially when it comes to ice cream. Recently, we added another patriotic fervor to the brand-name ice cream market. Look out, Ben and Jerry. Your latest competitor, Star Spangled Ice Cream (a corporate trade mark) comes in four flavors - the four flavors of patriotism - including "I hate the French Vanilla," "Iraqi Road," "Smaller Governmint" and "Nutty Environmentalist."

These are all on sale (but only online) for the low, low cost of $76 for four quarts, shipping and handling included. The Web site, www.starspangledicecream.com, also points out that it is $20 cheaper than Ben and Jerry's mail-order ice cream. But then again, if you are ordering ice cream mail order, you have more problems than your choice of brand. Rest assured, though, you are apparently not alone in your mail order obsession. Over 100,000 visited the Web site in its first 10 days of existence. Clearly, a lot of people feel the easiest way to show their patriotism is through the stomach.

After hearing these ridiculous stories of renewed patriotism, I am left wondering the following: When does patriotism - which is not to be confused with national identity - overstep its bounds? Or does it always overstep? Due to our patriotic mood swings, once the war with Iraq is over, will we see unwanted American flags on the clearance racks? Or will rocky road, French vanilla and mint-chocolate chip ice cream return to their previous names? Finally, will the companies profiting on the current wave of patriotism be forced out of business?

I don't know about that, but I do know that Ben and Jerry's has way more than four good flavors.