"For in a Republic, who is 'the country?'
Is it the Government which is for the moment in the saddle?
Why, the Government is merely a servant -- merely a temporary servant;
it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, 
and decide who is a patriot and who isn't.  Its function is to obey orders, 
not originate them." -- Mark Twain
[Samuel Langhornne Clemens] (1835-1910)
http://liberty-tree.ca/qb/Mark.Twain.Quote.1499