Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel - S Johnson

[bigbrother05]

Attributed by Boswell in 1775, proof that Tory traitors are deeply embedded in our political system.

[Archae]

1. And the first refuge is religion.

"I was a bad boy, but now I've found Jesus and everything is all hunky-dory!"

[First Speaker]

2. To be fair--Johnson was attacking scoundrels, not patriotism...

...he was talking about people like Wilkes, or--as he would have thought--Patrick Henry. People who used "patriotism" as a demagogic wedge. In modern terms, he'd be describing nationalism, not patriotism. People like Trump, of course...and Boris Johnson, and Putin, and Duerte--ultra-nationalist demagogues. Johnson himself was as patriotic, in the accepted sense of the word, as you could ask for, and was indeed the one major British intellectual who supported the War in America...