Way back in 1775, the great Dr. Samuel Johnson remarked: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” It was true then, and it’s true today.
Unable to defend their unwarranted war in Iraq, or this bloody occupation, the Bush crowd have pulled that old chestnut out of the fire: attacking the patriotism of anyone who dares disagree with official administration policy. And, even worse, accusing anyone who criticizes the president as aiding and abetting the enemy. And that qualifies them as scoundrels, indeed.
This time, the Bushies aren’t hiding behind some front-group like the Swift Boat Veterans. This time, the attacks are coming directly from top Republicans. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said al-Qaida would “do better” under a Kerry presidency. Sen. Orrin Hatch announced that terrorists would do everything they can “to try and elect John Kerry.” Dick Cheney warned that a Kerry win would mean another terrorist attack on America. And after Kerry challenged Bush for misleading the American people about progress in Iraq, the president bristled: “You can embolden an enemy by sending mixed messages.”
Nonsense. That’s the same bogus argument Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson used against critics of the Vietnam War. It’s enough to make every true-blooded American cringe.
Let’s get it straight, once and for all. As any schoolchild knows, the president of the United States, no matter who he is, Republican or Democrat, is not the United States itself. He is the top of the heap, but still only one among thousands of politicians we elect. Criticizing any president or his policies is no more un-American than complaining about your mayor.
As Teddy Roosevelt warned: “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by him, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
That’s true even during wartime because, as we have painfully learned, that’s when presidents – even great presidents like John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt – are most likely to abuse their power and hide behind the American flag. When we’re at war is when citizens must be most vigilant.
And that’s especially true today, during the war in Iraq. For on Iraq, once again, George Bush is not telling the truth to the American people. First he lied about the need to go to war. Now he’s lying about what’s happening on the ground. Every day, Bush brags that we’re making progress in Iraq and January elections are on track. No way.
We watch the news. We read the newspapers. We see what’s happening. Every day in Iraq, more car bombings and more kidnappings. Two Americans beheaded last week. The number of young American troops killed: now over 1,050. Insurgents control major portions of the country. The interim Iraqi government is confined within two square miles of Baghdad. Secretary Rumsfeld now says elections will only be held in parts of the country. And the CIA warns that the situation in Iraq might very well deteriorate into civil war among the Shiites, the Sunnis and the Kurds.
That’s not progress, but chaos. That’s not moving forward, but falling backward. For John Kerry to blame Bush for not doing a better job of protecting our troops does not make him unpatriotic. Republican Sens. John McCain, Chuck Hagel and Richard Lugar have all criticized the occupation of Iraq. Are they also traitors? In the most recent Gallup poll, 60 percent of Americans said that dethroning Saddam Hussein was not worth the cost. Are they all un-American?
Before accusing John Kerry or anyone else of siding with Osama bin Laden, merely by opposing the war in Iraq, President Bush should listen to our military leaders on the ground. Asked by Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” whether he agreed with Bush’s charge that today’s debate over the war “emboldens the enemy and sends the wrong message to our troops, Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, disagreed with his commander in chief.
“I believe that debate in our country is what our country is all about,” Abizaid told Russert. “And if we’re successful out here, debate will be part of the future of Afghanistan and part of the future of Iraq. That there’s a debate back home is a good thing for our people.”
At least Abizaid knows what democracy’s all about.
