God save us from politicians and bankers playing the patriot game

It was Samuel Johnson who famously proclaimed in 1775 that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”.

What we have been witnessing has little to do with real patriotism — it is a phoney patriotism. In the circumstances, the more appropriate word is treason

THE US Democratic vice-presidential candidate, Senator Joe Biden, says raising taxes is patriotic. Speaking in a nationwide TV interview, he proclaimed: “It’s time to be patriotic.”