Goldberg's defense in the Arizona Republic of Trump's speech at the UN establishing his "doctrine of patriotism" is muddled and myopic. Over three hundred years, often in the name of "patriotism," the economically and technologically powerful have murdered, exterminated, exploited, infected, starved to death and imprisoned countless millions of people across the globe. In the name of self-defense, patriotism invokes building up one's armed forces to be stronger than others and to create a military-industrial complex which cannot be dismantled because to do so would cause economic hardship. The temptation is then to use these forces as diplomatic tools. Do we seriously, however, want war with China, Russia, Iran? Do we honestly want to incinerate each other in a nuclear holocaust?

Our international institutions such as the UN, labelled dramatically by Goldberg as "world government", however inadequate, are there to prevent war. The International Court of Justice is there to prosecute war crimes (Remember Nuremberg? Bosnia?) Let the butchers and murderers beware. America is a great nation because it supports the rule of law both in its own country and abroad. For us, justice is a human right.

Surely Mr Goldberg does not believe that Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay are good examples of American patriotism?