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ctembreull · 07-26-2003, 11:19 AM

I guess what I find funny about all of this is that so many conservatives say "Don't listen to those stupid celebrities, they're just using their fame to spout their anti-american propaganda".

Of course, there's either a deafening silence or a great well of back-patting and general agreement when one of those celebrities happens to say something that those same conservatives happen to agree with.

Case in point: Howard Stern. Also see: Dennis Miller.

While I don't need to mention how monstrously hypocritical this is, I do feel the need to mention the venom this debate over patriotism has injected into the national dialogue. All of a sudden, you can't disagree with the government without being labeled "unpatriotic." Let me make one thing perfectly clear: dissent is perhaps the single most patriotic form of speech. What's harder, to go along with the rest of the cattle or to actually care enough about what happens to your country to step up and say, "Hey, this isn't right"?

Without dissent, there is no discourse, and without discourse, there is no freedom. Without freedom, there is totalitarianism. It frightens me the distance we have traveled down this road, all in the short space of two years.

Or perhaps, Teddy Roosevelt said it best: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president.. is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public."

07-26-2003, 11:19 AM	#30 (permalink)
ctembreull Crazy Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA, Earth	I guess what I find funny about all of this is that so many conservatives say "Don't listen to those stupid celebrities, they're just using their fame to spout their anti-american propaganda". Of course, there's either a deafening silence or a great well of back-patting and general agreement when one of those celebrities happens to say something that those same conservatives happen to agree with. Case in point: Howard Stern. Also see: Dennis Miller. While I don't need to mention how monstrously hypocritical this is, I do feel the need to mention the venom this debate over patriotism has injected into the national dialogue. All of a sudden, you can't disagree with the government without being labeled "unpatriotic." Let me make one thing perfectly clear: dissent is perhaps the single most patriotic form of speech. What's harder, to go along with the rest of the cattle or to actually care enough about what happens to your country to step up and say, "Hey, this isn't right"? Without dissent, there is no discourse, and without discourse, there is no freedom. Without freedom, there is totalitarianism. It frightens me the distance we have traveled down this road, all in the short space of two years. Or perhaps, Teddy Roosevelt said it best: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president.. is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public." __________________ Mac "If it's nae Scottish, it's crap!