Dissent

It's kind of funny how dissent works. I recall that during the George W. Bush years, questioning the President was tantamount to treason - why, you're giving aid and comfort to the enemy in wartime. Now that we have a Democratic president, it's okay to criticize, it fact it's our patriotic duty to criticize! Part of patriotism as I see it, part of being someone who loves his or her country is being able to see what parts of it can be improved, what parts are dysfunctional, what parts are just plain wrong and make suggestions about how to fix them. The answer is not to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that our country is perfect and above criticism, but to make dissent commonplace. Saying like "America - love it or leave it" or what I saw on Facebook this morning about how if anyone was "offended by the flag" the poster would help them pack. Other than being a strawman proposition (who are all these people in the United States who are offended at the U.S. flag?) - it suggests that criticism of what the flag stands for - the United States - is grounds for deportation. And of course there's the originator or the photo in question, a U.S. Marine; somehow there's that assumption that if one of the "troops" say something, it is beyond question. So, unlike the Marine who would help the imaginary people who are offended at the flag pack their bags in preparation for residence elsewhere - if you are offended at dissent - I will not help you pack your bags, because the First Amendment is still in force.