I am feeling patriotic by proxy. Earlier this month, the British Parliament hauled the editor of The Guardian – one of that country’s most respected papers – before the Home Affairs Select Committee and questioned his patriotism because The Guardian had published some of the documents leaked by ex-National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. Sadly, our friends across the pond seem to need a reminder that love of country is not synonymous with love of its government, or carte blanche for its government’s misdeeds.
A true patriot, Mark Twain posited, supports his country all of the time, but his government only when it deserves it. The unstated premise of Twain’s oft-quoted aphorism is that the people must have unfettered access to information that allows them to decide whether or not their government deserves their support, or their opprobrium. Patriotism follows where information leads it.
