"Lurking behind the critique of patriotism is the longing for an unattainable moral purity in politics."

I would argue that this is also behind the critique of politicians in general, especially the current trend of criticizing those hoping to run against Trump next year. One is not liberal enough, another is not young enough, still another has dark clouds in their past... The fact is, the perfect candidate does not exist. Anyone who wins the Democrats' primary will be my default choice, because that's the candidate with the best chance to win.

"In sum: I can believe that my country has made serious mistakes that must be acknowledged and corrected without ceasing to be a patriot. I can believe that my country’s political institutions are evil and need wholesale replacement without ceasing to be a patriot. I can believe that other objects of regard (my conscience, or God) on occasion outrank my country without ceasing to be a patriot. The fact that zealous patriotism can have terrible consequences does not mean that reasonable and moderate patriotism does so."

Or, in my words, quit hatin' on America, y'all! We're in a rough patch right now, so let's fix it up!