kobayashi said:
but i am curious to ask americans the following...why is it that the president must be supported at all costs? from where does that rationale come from? why, when the war began, did all questioning of the war need to cease?
to me this would appear to clash with much of what is fundamental to america.
That is a good question. I'm really curious about it, too.
Our First Amendment is there for a reason. It allows us to be able to express our opinions on various issues. Our founding fathers were probably rolling in their graves at times during the whole thing of whether or not we should be allowed to criticize our president.
I protested the war, but I definitely got some comments about how I should "leave" if I don't like what our government's doing or, my favorite, "These soldiers fought for your right to say what you're saying, so quit complaining and support our country!" (can we say "contradiction"?).
I think what some people in the country need to understand is this: I do love this country. Very much.
Therefore, if I feel our president is doing something that, in my eyes, brings down our country, allows other countries to hate us, etc., you'd better believe I will speak up and be against what our president is doing. I love our country so much that I refuse to allow it to be looked at as a horrible country that does nothing more than bully others around, and if our government in some way, shape, or form, is allowing that image to be put out, then I'm gonna protest the government's actions.
And I think that's the case with a lot of dissenters in this country.
Not to mention, if we blindly supported our government in everything they said and did, simply because he was the president and we absolutely must support him and not dare question him, we'd be living in a dictatorship. Not a democracy.
Originally posted by Lilly
i think that complete complaceny IS apathy, just going along with what the president says solely because he is the president is apathetic and stupid, you can't deny that.
going along with the president because you have reviewed his policies and agree with his platform is different from the above case. it clearly isn't complacency and isn't agreement with the president solely because he is the president, it's an active afiliation with the president/administration.
Exactly.
Besides, I have respect for the
position of president. I just don't always like who holds that position. Bush has done very little in my eyes to make me hold much respect for him.
That's my opinion, though. Some people would disagree, and that's fine.
Not to mention, some of the same people in this country that were upset with those of us who criticized Bush were critcizing Clinton mercilessly when he was president, so that's another thing that bugs me-the sheer hypocrisy of some people.
Angela