I Thought 'Dissent Is Patriotic'

Townhall.com ^ | August 11, 2009 | Dennis Prager

[libstripper]

Living in liberal Los Angeles, I am surrounded by people -- and bumper stickers -- I do not agree with.

One of the more popular liberal bumper stickers of the last decade tells us "Dissent is Patriotic." Now, as it happens, it is impossible to truly disagree with that phrase, not because it is self-evidently true, but because it is self-evidently meaningless. As are most left-wing bumper stickers.

For example, another popular liberal bumper sticker proclaims, "War Is not the Answer." It, too, is completely meaningless. If the question is, "What is the square root of 8?" war is not the answer. But if the question is "How do you stop genocidal regimes?" war probably is the answer.

[libstripper]

We have complete freedom--to suck up to the Illegal Alien.

[Republic of Texas]

Dissent WAS Patriotic.

[bray]

They have no belief, just the hunger for power.

Pray for America

[dools007]

Dissent is only patriotic if it is Marxist dissent.

[J40000]

When Hillary screamed that “Dissent was patriotic”, I seem to remember that it was mostly ELECTED DEMOCRATS who were “dissenting”.
And it wasn’t dissenting at all... it was insults, ridicule and downright nasty talk about President Bush and his cabinet PERSONALLY.

Today, we dissent the POLICIES of our new regim...uhhh, administration. Yes, we know that these cancerous policies will continue to flow as long as these folks are in office, but we just want their policies stopped.

[AliVeritas]

Check out the numbers in GA for a townhall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KajineWY6vA

Another Matthews spew re: HC:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2313226/posts?page=1

[LottieDah]

Dissent is only Patriotic when leftists and Democrats are dissenting. Conservative and moderates who dissent are Nazis.

[raybbr]

Dissent is limited to leftists. Obama tries to stifle dissent yet appoints a guy who wrote a book about dissent to the White House>

Absolute Hypocrisy!

Cass Sunstein, an American legal scholar and Harvard Law Professor, has been appointed by President Obama to head up the “White House Office Of Information And Regulatory Affairs.” His title is sufficiently broad and ambiguous, but he wields plenty of power. And with advance copies circulating of his new book “On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done,” Americans who still care about their rights to “freedom of speech” should be paying close attention.

I guess he's changed his mind!

Really interesting coming from a guy who wrote this in 2003...

Review Why Societies Need Dissent...shows that demands for lock-step conformity are wrong and uninformed thinking. Sunstein's important new study is filled with empirical evidence of the significance of opposition, found in his compelling explanations of the need for, and benefits of, disagreement. Sunstein reveals that, in fact, the influence of dissenters is for the better, be it with courts, juries, corporate boardrooms, churches, sports teams, student organizations or faculties, not to mention 'the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court...during times of both war and peace.' --John W. Dean (Los Angeles Times Book Review )

[NMEwithin]

The bumper sticker I really hate and have been seeing a lot is the one that says “Coexist”...it just pisses me off

[Falcon4.0]

Well it was last year.
But you see, only the really "Smart People" get the subtle nuances.
Just like only the Aristocrats can see the Emperors New Clothes.

[mathluv]

F&F just showed hellary’s rant on ‘patriotic dissent’.

[wmileo]

Dissent is only patriotic when you denigrate the United States of America and express hatred for BUSH,CHENEY or the military because they dared to protect this country from its enemies. If you happen to get violent and hurt ordinary citizens while destroying public and private property, then you are extremely patriotic.

Dissent is only unpatriotic when you oppose Socialist and un-American policies.

If you don't have the sense to destroy property and commit acts of violence while sucking up to totalitarian dictators who happen to be enemies of the United States of America, what good are you?

[raccoonradio]

lefty bumper stickers that apply to us now

He is NOT My President

Dissent is Patriotic

I Love My Country But Fear My Government

I do a college radio blues show and have had a bit of fun playing a version of the old union anthem “Which Side Are You On?” from a compilation called Jugs Across America: A Modern Jug Band Compilation, because it talks about “the scoundrels in the White House”. (Of course it was recorded a couple years ago; another line in the slightly reworded version is “don’t follow new world orders”...)

[bmwcyle]

Life is what they tell you. I’m just not listening.

[McGruff]

I hear they play the audio of this at Club Gitmo.

"I'm sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic. We need to stand up and say we're Americans, and we have the right to debate and disagree with any administration." — Hillary Clinton

[The Sons of Liberty]

If you're a dimocrap, dissent is not only patriotic, it's fashionable.

If you're conservative, it is "Un-American" as declared by Nancy Pelosi.

[Sig Sauer P220]

Liberals are so confused. I’m surprised they can even get out of bed when noontime rolls around.

[NavyCanDo]

Were is that clip of Hillary saying we have a right to disagree with any administration?

[Tolik]

Like Prager says: it’s meaningless without a context.

it also reminds me that great line from the movie “Independence Day” when the President played by Bill Pullman asks the alien: What do you want us to do? - and he gets a simple one word answer “Die”.

[libstripper]

As to the GA town hall: HOLY SHIT!!!

[jnsun]

Another bumper sticker is "Hate is Not a Family Value," which we tended to associate with the Left who like to accuse the conservative of hate, when in fact it was clearly explicit hate against GWB which was mustered in the Media, and prevails in the bigoted Left.

Obviously an instance of psychological projection where those declaring are actually projecting their own visceral emotions and motives on to other human beings. A pathological condition of not being able to be honest with one's self, normally called immaturity. Pelosi the perfect example.

We don't hate Barack Obama, just hate the fact that such an incompetent narcissist is President and certain people made it so. Bill Clinton, and maybe even BO, would probably be delightful to have a beer with, but they sure are misguided individuals.

Such is the perversion of the LEFT.

Johnny Suntrade

[Lou L]

The bumper sticker I really hate and have been seeing a lot is the one that says “Coexist”...it just pisses me off

Yeah, why do I always feel that what they really mean is, "Christians, f-off!"

[SECURE AMERICA]

To the Socialist and Communist dissent against others is always the “people” rising up and the right thing to do.
To the Socialist and Communist dissent against them is crimes against the State and require extended stays in re-education camps...

[TNCMAXQ]

I would be glad to coexist. Problem is certain others don’t want to coexist with the rest of us.

I have not seen those “I love my country but fear my government” stickers anymore. I wonder if they’ve been banned. (I say this with sarcasm but the way things are going, who knows.)

On the Imus radio show this morning, Imus was off but his producer, the conservative Bernard McGuirk, was making some commentary and he was very much on the side of the anti health care bill/tea party demonstrators. He even played the audio of then Sen Clinton from 2003 screeching that she was tired of being called unpatriotic for refusing to support the Bush administration. Apparently she no longer feels that dissent is the American way.

[AFreeBird]

“Visualize Whirled Peas”