Once there was a cloth. It was pretty and blue and white and red. Everyone thought it was grand because it flew up so high. It stayed there all the time. But since it was so high up, nobody noticed the fabric tearing. Nobody noticed the stitches failing. The people just saw the cloth way up high like it was before. The people never noticed that their cloth had become a rag.
Patriotism blinds one to the problems and flaws of their country.