For years I heard that dissent is patriotic. That to question one leaders, indeed, to be cynical of ones own government shows character and intelligence. To agree with your leaders and to follow them shows a lack of mental fortitude. I heard that Bush could do no right, and I was expected to defend him in every way. I looked for a President, they looked for a Messiah. To them it was always a Zero sum game. Because I felt that George Bush kept us safe after 9-11, I was naive, because there was never a threat in the first place…or better yet, we created that threat.
I heard that the true patriots were the Revolutionaries, the radicals, and the belligerent. The true thinkers were those who played the game of moral equivalency, and at the root of every problem, if one dug deep enough, one would find the American War Machine.
For the last 8 years I questioned my President when necessary, disagreed with him when wrong, and supported him when he stood against our enemies or for my ideals. I gave him the respect that the others refused to give him.
But now, like an episode of the Twilight Zone, things have changed. To question is unpatriotic, even racist. To disagree is tantamount to treason, and to hope that policies that I think are dangerous to the blocks on which this country was built means that I “just don’t get it”. It seems to me that for those critics of Bush, and supporters of Obama…it’s still that zero sum game. It’s all or nothing. Their commandments dictate that what their leader decrees, must become sacrament, and what he heralds as evil, must be destroyed. My leaders are men. Their leaders are Gods. What else would explain the aggressive unwillingness to question? What else would explain the inquisition like reactions to dissent? What else would explain the blind faith?
I’ve shown that I can both question and support my leaders, and while I will always give the office it’s due respect, I will not, and have never given that office my blind faith and fealty. Can you say the same?
You said, “Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism”. Are you willing to back that now?
Irresponsible
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