There is an apparent wide and shocking misconception in our land. It is this. That patriotism consists in loving our government and in willingly and joyously doing what the president and his administration want us to do. It is this misconception, so cunningly advanced by unscrupulous men in power, which has paved the way for despotic advances in all the years of man. Patriotism cannot be a love of government.
Patriotism rises above the government as a mountain towers above a blade of grass.
When we think of our country and a feeling of love and devotion wells up within us, it should spring from the reality of what our country is and means, and not from the government, which is the least of all our blessings. In fact, the only virtue of our government, which was true in the days of its founding, was that it was a severely limited government of very little power. We could love it then, for it was harmless. A tiger in a cage can induce a feeling of love. A tiger, hiding in a tall grass of hidden taxes, and not so hidden force, is a shocking and a terrifying thing.