CSM article quotes Ari Fleischer to question Kerry's speech on dissent

[ProSense]

Terrorism & Security
posted April 24, 2006 at 11:30 a.m.

Is dissent during a time of war patriotic?

Some say dissent is patriotic duty; others say it can be treasonous.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

In a speech Saturday at Boston's historic Fanueil Hall, US Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts said Americans had a patriotic duty to speak out against the war in Iraq.

The Boston Globe reports that Senator Kerry said troops are dying because of what he called an inept and deceitful policy orchestrated by the Bush administration. His speech fell on the 35th anniversary of his speech to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where as a young Navy veteran returning from war he asked, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Kerry's case yesterday was much the same: that Americans have a duty to speak out against a war that is sacrificing lives on the "altar of stubborn pride."

"Presidents and politicians may worry about losing face or losing votes or losing their legacy; it is time to think about young Americans and innocent civilians who are losing their lives," Kerry said, to a thunderous standing ovation.

Snip...

While the subject of dissent during wartime has always been contentious, it has sparked some particularly heated debates since the attacks of 9/11 and the start of the Iraq war. A few days after 9/11, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said, "There are reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0424/dailyUpdate.html

[babylonsister]

1. Dissent is mandatory for this war; is lying us into a war patriotic? nt

[izzie]

2. You have got it right.

Endless war to take over this gov. is more than any one needs.

[blm]

5. I like how the article allows stark comparison of the two sides.

.

[blm]

3. This article actually signals who's a real patriot and who's a Royalist.

If it were up to the Royalist crowd, our national anthem would be God Save the Queen.

btw... for sticklers: Royalist = Loyalist

[karynnj]

4. I like that

especially as the RW has always said if (democrat of choice) was in charge during the(war of choice), the (opponnent from said war) would be in charge now.

(It especially made no sense when one time I heard Limbaugh after talking of the Berlin Wall rhetorically asked if Kerry could have stood up to the Communists. I think his medication made him forget he, not Kerry, skipped Vietnam)