Patriotism is usually the refuge of the scoundrel. He is the man who talks the loudest.
- Education and Citizenship speech, 5/14/1908

Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.
- More Maxims of Mark, Johnson, 1927

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.
- Notebook, 1904

Man is the only Patriot. He sets himself apart in his own country, under his own flag, and sneers at the other nations, and keeps multitudinous uniformed assassins on hand at heavy expense to grab slices of other people's countries, and keep them from grabbing slices of his. And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood of his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"- with his mouth.
- "The Lowest Animal"

We teach them to take their patriotism at second-hand; to shout with the largest crowd without examining into the right or wrong of the matter--exactly as boys under monarchies are taught and have always been taught. We teach them to regard as traitors, and hold in aversion and contempt, such as do not shout with the crowd, and so here in our democracy we are cheering a thing which of all things is most foreign to it and out of place--the delivery of our political conscience into somebody else's keeping. This is patriotism on the Russian plan.
- Mark Twain, a Biography

The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice--and always has been.
- Mark Twain's Notebook

[Patriotism] ...is a word which always commemorates a robbery. There isn't a foot of land in the world which doesn't represent the ousting and re-ousting of a longline of successive "owners" who each in turn, as "patriots" with proud swelling hearts defended it against the next gang of "robbers" who came to steal it and did--and became swelling-hearted patriots in their turn.
- Mark Twain's Notebook

We have a bastard Patriotism, a sarcasm, a burlesque; but we have no such thing as a public conscience. Politically we are just a joke.
- marginalia written in Clemens's copy of The Future in America; A Search After Realities by H. G. Wells

Clemens' sharp lash of truth really smarts, yes?

Present day corporate media wouldn't touch him or Mencken with a 10 foot pole. They're not shallow or trivial enough.

Sam ran away to California when the Civil War broke out...so here we have a slightly skewed perspective on patriotism.

As well he would be more akin to the late great George Carlin. The only real difference is the conventions of being a humorist in the Victorian era versus modern day.

So you're saying that loving one's country is bad?

Yep, you're a lib.

Good Anology Esox.

Loony Toons:

The real patriot is the guy who questions his government for the good of his country.

Samual Adams questioned his government as did Thomas Jefferson. If they did not we would still be British subjects.

Dittoheads like you never question this war criminal administration. You buy into all thier fascist bullshit.

Like nineteen twenty something year olds coming over here for a short period of time, learned how to fly airplanes into buildings with no help from the ground, defeating Norad, the FBI, the CIA and the U.S. Air Force. They managed to hit the most protected building in the world that has its own surface to air missile batteries and leave no plane wreckage after flying around for more than 45 minutes.

Geez, you are one hell of a guilible asshole.

If you believe that shit, your nothing but a non-thinking kool-aide drinking Dittohead.

Nobody is buying into to this bullshit except you.

According to the new New York Times/CBS News poll, only 16% of Americans think the government is telling the truth about 9/11 and the intelligence prior to the attacks:

"Do you think members of the Bush Administration are telling the truth, are mostly telling the truth but hiding something, or are they mostly lying?

Telling the truth 16%

Hiding something 53%

Mostly lying 28%

Not sure 3%"