A Double Standard On Dissent

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

[Note:  This item comes from reader Jock Gill.  DLH]

A Double Standard On Dissent
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, March 21, 2003; Page A37
<<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1193-2003Mar20.html>http://
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1193-2003Mar20.html>

Wartime is dangerous to liberty and free expression.

When troops head into battle, the party in power is always tempted to
condemn opposition and dissent as forms of treason. Suddenly the president
is no longer referred to simply as "the president." He becomes "the
commander in chief," a phrase that implies a lot more power.

But the more a president's supporters use the term "commander in chief" to
enhance his authority, the more important it is to remember his role as the
political leader of a free republic who is not endowed with infallibility,
unlimited power or immunity from criticism. That, after all, is the
essential difference between our country and Iraq. Our foe in this war is a
brutal despot who responds to opponents not with nasty sound bites or
30-second attack ads but with torture and murder. To proclaim the right to
dissent is to declare why the United States is a country worth fighting for.

The president's party took an early run this week at shutting down criticism
with an all-hands-on-deck attack on Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, a
Vietnam-era veteran who had the nerve to criticize the diplomatic failures
leading up to this war.

"I'm saddened, saddened that this president failed so miserably at diplomacy
that we're now forced to war," Daschle said on Monday, "saddened that we
have to give up one life because this president couldn't create the kind of
diplomatic effort that was so critical for our country."

The way the Republicans reacted, you'd have thought Daschle had endorsed
Saddam Hussein for reelection. "Those comments may not undermine the
president as he leads us into war," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert. "And
they may not give comfort to our adversaries, but they come mighty close."

But a different standard seemed to apply after President Clinton launched
his 1999 air campaign in Kosovo to protect ethnic Albanians from another
dictator.

<snip>

Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>


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