To American revolutionaries, patriotism meant fair dealing with one another

  When modern Americans call themselves patriots, they are evoking a sentiment that is 250 years old.

  In September 1774, nearly two years before the Declaration of Independence, delegates from 12 of the 13 Colonies gathered for the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. They quickly hammered out a political, economic, and cultural program to unify the so-called “Patriot” movement against British rule.

Michael Josephson: Democracy - respectful discourse

  One quality of our democracy is that every citizen is a public official. Thus, the passionate advocacy of political convictions is not only a right, it’s a patriotic obligation.

  What worries me, however, is the tendency of many basically good people to be overcome with self-righteous certainty that they’re right and that those who disagree with them are wrong.