[CLUE-Talk] Iraq Stuph

[Matt Gushee]

On Tue, Apr 22, 2003 at 07:22:22AM -0600, Don Collier wrote:
> Does not matter whether you clain him or not.  Does not matter whether you
> voted for him or not.  He is the President of our Country.  It completely
> amazes me how much wining and crying goes on when something dosent happen
> exactly the way you liberals want it to.
> 
> More than 70% of the country supports this war.  Why cant you be a SILENT
> minority.

Teddy Roosevelt answered that question much better than I ever could:

  "The President is merely the most important among a large number of
  public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the
  degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his
  efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested
  service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary
  that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts,
  and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does
  wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an
  American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must
  be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the
  President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is
  morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth
  should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more
  important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than
  about any one else."

  "Roosevelt in the Kansas City Star", 149
  May 7, 1918

-- 
Matt Gushee                 When a nation follows the Way,
Englewood, Colorado, USA    Horses bear manure through
mgushee at havenrock.com           its fields;
http://www.havenrock.com/   When a nation ignores the Way,
                            Horses bear soldiers through
                                its streets.
                                
                            --Lao Tzu (Peter Merel, trans.)