I'm A Hero.

You misunderstood me (regarding the principles). Maybe that particular word isn't the best choice, but I think the meaning is clear. And explain why you consider it idiocy.

No one ever forced anything into my head; I came to all these patriotic views on my own.

Perhaps I'm not denying that everything happened exactly as you say, but I still think that it was instilled in me. You just don't realize it, and you probably never will. But again, I'm not claiming that this is the absolute truth.
Regarding patriotism and fanaticism, I think it's impossible to reach a consensus here. Because I believe that absolute fanaticism is when you are simply crazy about something, you know everything about it, etc. (I'll explain it better with an example: let's say a fan of a band knows the complete biography of all the members, only listens to their music, goes to ALL their concerts by any means, squeezing out every last penny, is ready to give away his apartment in exchange for a beer can that was run over by the band's limousine, etc.).
In my opinion, patriotism is a kind of fanaticism in which you "fan out" over the country you are patriotic about, you also know its history by heart, all the rulers, sub-rulers, and so on, and are ready to wallow in mud for it every day for 23 hours, etc