i always thought the quote went "patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel", and the writer h.l.mencken, but in the catcher was a spy mo berg says it was "patriotism is the first refuge of a scoundrel", and the writer was samuel johnson. i look it up and it says johnson did say last, and ambrose bierce begged to submit it was the first, and mencken said "it's worse, patriotism is the first, last, and middle range of fools". anyways, he may have said something else, really, because boswell wrote it, and he can make samuel say anything he wants him to, like plato and socrates, gnome sane. socrates was like playdoh in plato's hands, gnome sane. so there you have it, lulu. who knows what the hell anybody said or what the hell is going down.