Somebody once said something to the effect that its the duty of a patriot to oppose his government. Modern conservatives don’t usually see it that way. From Paul Craig Roberts at paulcraigroberts.org:
I don’t mean by patriotism’s absence. I mean by its presence. I will explain.
First, let’s understand who we are talking about. Not the liberals, not the leftwing, not the woke. These are the creatures who spend their time denouncing America.
We are talking about conservatives. They are the patriots.
I am not saying that there is anything wrong with patriotism. It is a good thing when it is not blinding. But patriotism can be very blinding.
I could write a book about this, but who would read it? So I will go straight to the basic point. Conservatives are not blind to the fact that much is wrong, but who do they blame? They blame foreign “enemies”–Russians, Chinese, Muslim terrorists, Iranians, Palestinians. The fault is never in their own government. When you tell them it is, they get defensive, angry, and call you a “commie who hates America.”
Their patriotism confuses country (that is, the Constitution) with the government, and they defend the government that is the cause of the problems.
Consequently, conservatives do not understand Washington’s hand in all of the crises that we currently face and, therefore, conservatives are impotent and can do nothing to avoid the crises. Instead, they project the blame externally as the propaganda does. Their patriotism makes them victims of propaganda serving agendas of which they are unaware.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.
Thomas Jefferson