A pair of quotes from James Madison for the weekend, one on opinion and one on patriotism...
(1) Nothing is so contagious as opinion, especially on questions which, being susceptible of very different glosses, beget in the mind a distrust of itself. - James Madison, letter to Benjamin Rush, 1790
(2) The eyes of the world being thus on our Country, it is put the more on its good behavior, and under the greater obligation also, to do justice to the Tree of Liberty by an exhibition of the fine fruits we gather from it. - James Madison, letter to James Monroe, 1824
Opinions, like rumors and lies, have a nasty tendency to get around faster than the honest truth; that's almost how its' always been since the first Homo Sapiens (humans) walked the earth.
As to patriotism, the fruits of it are manifest are in how we treat other people in America and around the world, something that transcends politics and nationalism.
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