A Message to Bush-Bashers...
...and in fact, president-bashers of all administrations - red, blue, whatever: Keep on bashing.
Here's why you should
In 1939 Germany under Hitler annexed Poland. Shortly afterward, France was invaded. Hitler wanted to control all of Europe and things could have gone that way. Had that happened Europe would have been under the control of a militaristic dictatorship - citizens would have lost the right to choose who led them, the right to free speech and more.
If you've ever wondered why Britain and the US went to war against Germany, here's the answer: it was to preserve our rights to vote, to speak out against the actions of our leaders without recriminations, and much, much more. Many thousands of men and women died protecting those rights so that we would still have them today.
For US citizens the right of free speech is embodied in the text of the First Amendment:
You have the right to voice your thoughts; you have the right to be heard. Nobody - nobody - has the right to stop you speaking out against the government when they do something that you don't like, think is a bad idea, wrong, or just plain stupid. You should speak out against your government, loud and often, when things are wrong in your view. That's how democracy works. Keep your mouth shut when things are going down the toilet and you may as well join the ones pulling the chain.
This is why I get annoyed when I hear someone saying that it's "unpatriotic" to criticize the president. My answer to these people: YOU are the ones being unpatriotic. YOU are the ones being unconstitutional. If you only want freedom of speech when you like what's being said, there are are still plenty of dictatorships to choose from. Don't forget to revoke your US citizenship when you get there.
The current climate seems to be quite anti-Bush. There is a lot of commentary criticizing the current administration, and from where I sit the main pro-Bush response to this seems to be calls for the dissenters to shut up, rather than any reasoned argument about why they're wrong. As far as I'm concerned this speaks volumes.
My own opinion is that Bush is an undereducated religious-right redneck in a suit, ready to sell the country's every natural resource and welch on every agreement that hampers big business, just so that his big-business friends can make a fast buck, in office because of a bogus ballot based on a bogus war based in turn on lies. That's what really pisses me off; Clinton was impeached, not because he had an affair with an intern, but because he lied to the American people about it. Bush lied to the American people about weapons of mass destruction in the middle east - lies to justify a fake war that cost the lives of over a thousand soldiers and thousands of civilians. When are we going to see him impeached?
Here's why you should
In 1939 Germany under Hitler annexed Poland. Shortly afterward, France was invaded. Hitler wanted to control all of Europe and things could have gone that way. Had that happened Europe would have been under the control of a militaristic dictatorship - citizens would have lost the right to choose who led them, the right to free speech and more.
If you've ever wondered why Britain and the US went to war against Germany, here's the answer: it was to preserve our rights to vote, to speak out against the actions of our leaders without recriminations, and much, much more. Many thousands of men and women died protecting those rights so that we would still have them today.
For US citizens the right of free speech is embodied in the text of the First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
You have the right to voice your thoughts; you have the right to be heard. Nobody - nobody - has the right to stop you speaking out against the government when they do something that you don't like, think is a bad idea, wrong, or just plain stupid. You should speak out against your government, loud and often, when things are wrong in your view. That's how democracy works. Keep your mouth shut when things are going down the toilet and you may as well join the ones pulling the chain.
This is why I get annoyed when I hear someone saying that it's "unpatriotic" to criticize the president. My answer to these people: YOU are the ones being unpatriotic. YOU are the ones being unconstitutional. If you only want freedom of speech when you like what's being said, there are are still plenty of dictatorships to choose from. Don't forget to revoke your US citizenship when you get there.
The current climate seems to be quite anti-Bush. There is a lot of commentary criticizing the current administration, and from where I sit the main pro-Bush response to this seems to be calls for the dissenters to shut up, rather than any reasoned argument about why they're wrong. As far as I'm concerned this speaks volumes.
My own opinion is that Bush is an undereducated religious-right redneck in a suit, ready to sell the country's every natural resource and welch on every agreement that hampers big business, just so that his big-business friends can make a fast buck, in office because of a bogus ballot based on a bogus war based in turn on lies. That's what really pisses me off; Clinton was impeached, not because he had an affair with an intern, but because he lied to the American people about it. Bush lied to the American people about weapons of mass destruction in the middle east - lies to justify a fake war that cost the lives of over a thousand soldiers and thousands of civilians. When are we going to see him impeached?
posted by Pete Ford at
8:52 PM
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