What is truly glib is the ease with which you dismiss the majority's view

Their political narcissism also serves to
subvert the efforts of our nation in the successful prosecution of this
perilous war.

"Adam H." <adam@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:c9a75a771a2206fc13df3020cd9528a5@news.teranews.com...

On Thu, 1 Apr 2004 22:20:19 -0500, "EZ2" <ez2lite@my-deja.com> wrote:

"Adam H." <adam@mailinator.com> wrote in message
news:72c4c662f8a239b4d95d1fb3588a83a6@news.teranews.com...

On Thu, 1 Apr 2004 16:52:31 -0500, "EZ2" <ez2lite@my-deja.com> wrote:

"Douglas Berry" <penguin_boy@mindOBVIOUSspring.com> wrote in message
news:6ibj60piu5kmvi15kc02bfp6od5ns1t81p@4ax.com...

Lo, many moons past, on 30 Mar 2004 01:22:49 GMT, a stranger called

by

some Xomicron <xomicron@wp.pl> came forth and told this tale in
alt.atheism

Make a decision. Either decide to support your president or get

out

now.

This country does not need idiots trying to stir up a crisis of
confidence.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or

that

we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only
unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American
public. ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1918)

Criticism of the President is one thing, giving aid and comfort to our
enemies is another. Robust and honest debate is the cornerstone of
democracy. In the eighteen months leading up to the Iraq war, we had
vigorous debate on this issue. The American people spoke loudly and

clearly

and the majority supported President Bush. The anti-war voices LOST

the

debate, as they were and continue to be in the MINORITY. A majority of
Democrats in congress wisely chose to heed the American people's wish

to

broaden the terror war into Iraq and covered their political asses by

voting

to grant the President this power. Now that our country is at war and

our

forces are in harm's way, they have an obligation as Americans to

unite

behind our commander-in-chief and support our troops and the war

effort.

They have chosen instead to denigrate the President in relentless,
politically motivated attacks and have by their actions sown seeds of

hope

among our enemies. As usual, the left shows contempt for democracy and

for

their country by their despicable, unpatriotic behavior.

So, your definition of 'democracy' is to simply cave to the majority?
Outlaw dissent?

Gee, how very progressive of you.

There is no 'obligation' to make nice to Bush because he started a war
he couldn't justify.

By it's very definition, Democracy IS majority rule and a majority of

your

countrymen believe that Bush DID justify the war.

Not my countrymen, I'm afraid. I'm not in the US.
But no citizen of the US should feel an obligation to stop criticizing
the government simply because the majority doesn't want that to
happen.

Have you ever heard the
phrase, "politics stops at the water's edge"? This was the conventional
wisdom in American politics for generations, prior to the emergence of

the

leftist ant-war movement in the US, in the 1960's. Simply put, it was an
acknowledgement that as Americans, we joined together in common cause,

once

our nation was committed to war and our forces were engaged. Americans

who

may have opposed the policies that led us to war recognized that once the
democratic process was concluded and the battle was joined, their duty

was

to support our country and help to win.

Try this analogy - Suppose you were walking down the street with

neighbors

and you were engaged in an argument. This argument is not really your

fault,

but you are in it nevertheless. While you are preoccupied with this, you
suddenly realize that you and your neighbors have wandered into a

high-crime

area and are now threatened by armed gang members. Do you continue your
squabble or do you put it aside in order to join forces and address the

much

larger issue of surviving? The venomous anti-Bush crowd has concluded

that

it is more important to win the argument with their fellow Americans than

it

is to join forces to confront the greater threat.

I don't see that as a particularly apt analogy - many who are against
Bush's policies legitimately consider him to be a greater and more
immediate threat to the principles that the US is based on than
terrorism is.

This has nothing to do with "making nice" to Bush, but rather it has to

do

with supporting your country, and the young men and women who are

fighting

and dying for it. If enough of our fellow citizens agree with your

position,

you can all exercise your "dissent" at the ballot box, next November. In
truth, the American left feels no sense of love or loyalty to our

country.

Instead, their loyalty is to their distinctly anti-American socialist
principals.

Your characterization of the "American left" is glib and shows no
inclination to respect their point of view as you demand they do of
the majority's view, I'd say. Your stereotype is as faulty as mine
would be if I painted all those who support the war as bloodthirsty
imperialists.

What is truly glib is the ease with which you dismiss the majority's view
but then again.....that is a cornerstone of elitist, leftist thinking.

Representative Democracy while not perfect, is closer to perfect than any
form of governance thus far devised. The principle is simple, everyone has a
voice but ultimately, the majority rules.

This is not an attempt to silence the minority, it is an attempt to remind
the minority that they have been heard and they have been rejected in the
democratic arena of ideas.

It is a challenge to the character and patriotism
of those Americans who have been overruled by a majority of their fellow
citizens and a reminder that their behavior seeks to impose the tyranny of
the minority upon their neighbors. Their political narcissism also serves to
subvert the efforts of our nation in the successful prosecution of this
perilous war.

This is not an attempt to silence the minority, it is an attempt to remind
the minority that they have been heard and they have been rejected in the
democratic arena of ideas.