America, love it or leave It! That was the response to anyone who demonstrated against the war in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. We are seeing the same response to anyone who disagrees with the course of action being taken by the current administration. Some of the comments include, “If you don’t like it here then go to Iraq or Iran or Israel or Russia or whatever country is available, and see how you like it.”
Those who are against war are not pro-Saddam, nor are they anti-American. Our country was founded on voicing our displeasure with the rulers, be they British or American. Each citizen has the right, no, the duty to speak out when they don’t agree with the way things are being run. If you sit passively and let the events that affect the course of your life unfold before you without voicing your opinion, you deserve exactly what you get.
In the case of the events that are unfolding daily in the U.N. in respect to Iraq, those who speak out against these events are not un-American. But, in many of the letters and columns published in this and other newspapers, those who are steadfastly behind President Bush in his systematic laying out of the facts, dismiss dissenters with those same lines. Those lines have even appeared in letters about gas prices: “Maybe they should move to Europe where gas prices are still way higher than what we are paying here.” I don’t want to move to Europe, Iraq, Iran or any other country. I am an American and I take my right to dissent and speak out seriously.
Marysville
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