it appears you have been misquoting toms' remaarks....it's always best to do some research before misquoting tom.....
..Thomas Paine Review
Thomas Paine and his followers, history of democratic reform, politics, commentary.
Another bogus quote: "It is the duty of every patriot to protect his country from its government."
The Tea-bagger membership is supposedly at least modestly educated. If so, I've yet to see any evidence of it. The latest is their widespread attribution of the above quotation to Thomas Paine. It's now gone viral, plastered all over the WWW. You won't find it in any of Paine's works because he simply never said nor wrote it. The actual quote is (drum roll, please) .....
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.” Edward Abbey A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis en Deserto) : Notes from a Secret Journal (1990) ISBN 0312064888
Personally, I rather enjoy Abbey's ideas, but I wonder if the Tea-Bagging Nation out there would be all that happy to be associated with him!