A patriot is one who supports his/her country when it is right, and tries to correct it, using the legal means of citizenship, when it is wrong. The problem, of course, is that many of us disagree about when the country, as represented by the government that we have given power, is right, and when it is wrong.

The word is much overused by all parts of the political spectrum. One can oppose the president's actions in Iraq out of patriotism: One might also support them, again out of patriotism. The knee-jerk reaction of both extremes to declare anyone not agreeing with them to be unpatriotic is just one indication of how alike the far right and left have become in thought and action.