"If you aren't enjoying the rights you're using everyday... leave the country... if you have a problem with what we've done to keep those rights - don't use them... and if you don't like what we're doing now, to actually better the world... no one is keeping you here..."
What do you think I'm doing when I'm arguing?
What could be more patriotic than fostering open debate on the war?
by Steve Chapman (edited for length,
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/2003/03/28/news/editorial/5499582.htm for the whole article)
Are you patriotic or antiwar? If you think that's a false choice, you probably weren't in attendance at one of the "Pro-America/Support Our Troops" rallies held in cities across the country last weekend....
It's hard to see why people should be expected to leave a free country because they have the gall to exercise their freedom. Maybe the ones who should leave are their critics, who would be more comfortable in a country whose government tolerates no criticism - say, Iraq. Or maybe they think we can't deliver liberty to the Iraqi people unless we first confiscate it from the American people.
There is no contradiction between loving your country and wanting it to stay out of unwise wars. Nor does demonstrating imply a desire to see the United States lose. I can't speak for all critics of the war, but once the bombs started falling, I wanted exactly what the supporters want: a swift victory and the safe return of all our troops....
Antiwar protesters have no duty to gag themselves once war is under way - any more than Bill Clinton's enemies had a duty to cease their criticism once he won his impeachment trial.
Nor is blind support of government any favor to those in uniform. Supporters of the war often suggest that the debate is between those with military experience and those without. Not so. Many of its advocates in the administration haven't served - including Vice President Dick Cheney and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. The main skeptic has been Colin Powell, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff....
Playing the patriotism card or the veterans card is a shameless attempt to discredit and intimidate dissenters, which is easier than proving them wrong. The real divide is between those who see open debate in a democracy as a weakness and those who see it as a strength. The antiwar demonstrators may be wrong about some things, but they're right about that.