Dissent is not disloyal

[cal04]

`Can an American who wants the United States to lose the war in Iraq be patriotic?'
"Chicago Tribune" Dissent in wartime can be the highest form of patriotism. If citizens believe that our military or political leaders have blundered or our reasons for fighting are unjust, they must voice these concerns if they are to meet their responsibilities in a self-governing society. Dissent is not disloyal.

Like those who support a war, those who dissent in wartime want to protect our soldiers, further our national interests and ensure that the United States is a nation of which they can be proud.But war breeds powerful and often dangerous passions. No one wants to hear that his son or daughter, brother or sister, is putting life and limb at risk for an ignoble or futile cause. In the throes of wartime, it is easy to lose sight of the essential difference between dissent and disloyalty.

Throughout our history, a succession of irresponsible and opportunistic journalists and politicians has intentionally blurred this line to incite fear and hatred. I recently encountered just such a "journalist" firsthand.

I was invited to appear on the TV show "The O'Reilly Factor" to debate the question: "Is dissent disloyal?" After the producer and I discussed the issue, host Bill O'Reilly (according to the producer) decided to redefine the question: "Can an American who wants the United States to lose the war in Iraq be patriotic?" Of course, this is a loaded question. It not-so-subtly implies that those who oppose the war in Iraq want the United States to lose and, worse, want American soldiers to die (as O'Reilly later actually charged). Sadly, this tactic is all too familiar in U.S. history.

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7551.htm

[dxdem]

1. The idea...

that dissent, especially during a time of war, is somehow unpatriotic or disloyal is rubbish. Albeit long standing rubbish. In my mind, dissent is usually from the subculture, the minority, the peaceniks, the hippies, etc (and I do not use those terms in a derogative fashion). It's natural to be picked at for not toeing the line. It comes down to whether you value your social acceptability more then your beliefs.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. we cannot let the rw define us

or define what 'dissent' means. I'd rather that NO liberal talk with O'Liely than to go on to answer slanted questions.

[indepat]

3. When elected officials fail to uphold their oaths of office to preserve,

protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States (that's the Constitution) or to promote the general welfare or when they promote irresponsible/reckless fiscal policies/unfair tax policies or reckless environmental policies, when they fail to uphold international treaties (the law of the land), or when they take this nation to a war not sanctioned by the UN and thus deemed to be illegal by most of the world, the failure to dissent, IMHO, is an abrogation of sacred duty of citizenship of the first magnitude unless, of course, you don't believe in such piffles as preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution, i.e, you have some other form of government in mind.

[Sir Craig]

4. Mr. Stone fell into a trap of his own making...

...thinking that he could be clever and rationalize that wishing the US would lose is not necessarily disloyal. The sad fact is, by making such a statement he is implying that it is possible that there can be an actual winner in a war, and that is just flat-out wrong.

There are no winners in war, only the defeated and the defeaters. Ask any parent who has lost a child because of this conflict, or had one maimed and scarred for life because of it, whether they felt it was possible to have won this fiasco of Shrub's, and odds are, unless they are completely brain-dead Republican zombie loyalists, they will fervently reject such a notion.

That is the point Stone should have made, instead of letting O'Reilly set the standard and trying to be clever in regards to that standard -- it was a fool's bet the moment he stepped into O'Reilly's lair.