American Patriotism before ‘God Save America’

For some 20 years “God Save America” sat hidden in the trunk
of the former Izzy Baline, Irving Berlin, till most inhibitions ceased
regarding patriotism, which sophisticated people believed stunk;
thanks partly to this song, in 1938 the inhibitions were released.

Though antisemitism would remain, patriotism was released, besmirched
due to intolerant indoctrination of most citizens while being churched,
but that “God Save America” became most popular though written by a Jew,
had no effect on Hollywood, where acting as a Jew no Jew could try to do.

Mark Twain derided patriotism pithily as being both grotesque and laughable,
which sadly is some patriots’ mistaken view of Jews whose patriotism they consider halfable.

In “The Most American Writer: From his childhood, Samuel Clemens was devoted to showmanship, exaggeration and the joy of a tall tale,” WSJ, 5/9/24, Jay Parini, a poet who teaches at Middlebury College, reviewing Mark Twain by Ron Chernow, writes:

In the steep slide that followed the death of [his wife] Livy in 1904, Twain grew increasingly gloomy and ill-humored, angered by what he saw happening in the world. The imperialist rush by Americans into Panama and the Philippines appalled Twain. As Mr. Chernow suggests, “more and more he doubted the ability of the American public to exercise independent judgment and believed that most people parroted what they heard from politician and the press.” In Twain’s still-relevant words: “We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had: the individual’s right to oppose both flag & country.” He derided “that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism.”