I do think the patriotic thing to do is to critique my country. How else do you make a country better but by pointing out its flaws?

Maher frames patriotism not as uncritical loyalty but as civic responsibility: love of country entails holding it to its professed ideals. The quote argues that critique is a mechanism of improvement—naming injustices, hypocrisies, or policy failures is a prerequisite to reform. Implicitly, it rejects the idea that dissent is disloyal, aligning instead with a tradition of democratic self-correction in which free speech, satire, and public argument function as tools for accountability. The rhetorical question underscores a pragmatic claim: without candid appraisal of flaws, national “betterment” becomes impossible, leaving patriotism as mere sentiment rather than active stewardship.