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Free Speech or National Security?

““Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia.â€?

- Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman, responding to Senator Hillary Clinton

10 comments to Free Speech or National Security?

  • DAD

    Durng WWII the response to your question might have been:”Loose lips sink ships.”

  • EVERY TIME the democrats are asked point blank what their plan is for withdrawal of the US from Irag is, they balk. They uhum and haw and blame GWB for going in, and complain, but they don’t outline their plan for dealing with the problems of radical islamists.

    The strategy of complain and duck the issue won’t solve our current and future problem with fascist Islamic radicals and their despearte death dealing aspirations of spreading their 7th century ideology. Muslim extremist dellusions of reclaiming their formerly held Muslim states and adding them to newly conquered territory is a common theme in their rhetoric, oratory, and homicidal suicide bombings.

    Seems like the only thing many in the Dem leadership care about is using the war effort to discredit GWB and the GOP. Anything that can do that, up to and including, helping our enemy with their propaganda assault is fair game? Its TREASON and an insult to the soldiers who wear the uniform! They don’t double speak for me!

    It’s all about political power, not winning a war against an army of illegal combatants who don’t represent a country; they want to die for a religious ideology. And they promise daily to attack us again and again and again and again. The Dem’s answer, open the borders, let come and live with us. Do they need votes so bad that they have to court La Raza, MS13, and devotees of Al Quida, Hamas, and Hezbolla?

    If we pull out in three months, millions of Iraqis will be murdered! What will the Dems say then? Pat each other on the back, “job well done…pass me the earmarks please?” Where will their disgust for death and destruction of war be then. And what will they do when muslim terror organizations gain a foot hold in Iraq, Ahfganistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Pakistan and begin absorbing the oil revenues of the region to amass and arm their soldiers? Then, use those forces to overthrow and control the govenments of Saudi Arabia, Israel and northern Africa?

    Enough of your questions Madam Candidate. What is your answer to the problem? THAT IS THE QUESTION FOR ANOTHER PRESIDENT!!!

  • Steve Levine

    Secretary Edelman is just the latest member of this administration to confirm Samuel Johnson’s pronouncement that “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.�

    EVERY TIME the Democrats question the Bush “strategy� and call for change in this disastrous policy, they’re accused of failing to support our troops. What IS treasonous and an “insult to the soldiers who wear the uniform� is asking our troops to execute a policy that has clearly failed, What’s treasonous is not providing adequate care for those soldiers who suffered injury in pursuit of that policy (see the Walter Reed fiasco!)

    I’m sick of listening to the sanctimonious bleating of Dead Messenger and others like him who are blind to Bush’s folly and who divert attention from the real issue by claiming that their critics “don’t support the troops.�

    What is it in the DNA of those people that blinds them to what is obvious to everyone else – that prompts them to support this President and his countless misadventures and wrongheaded policies…to make excuses for Alberto Gonzales, Tom DeLay, Ted Stevens, Dennis Hastert, Bill Frist and a whole host of ethically challenged Republicans?

    What are they smoking? And what moral desert do they live in?

  • Joshua Rosenstock

    Steve,

    Most Bush followers are big on the whole faith issue. They will blindly follow Bush and his failed policies because is perceived as a man of faith. Facts do not matter, just as they do not in religious contexts.

    It is ironic when you think about it. I wonder how often Jesus thought about cutting taxes for the wealthy while diminishing subsidies for the poor.

  • Steve Levine

    Josh: I see this as far more complex than just the “faith” issue alone and Bush’s hypocritical public piety.

    I’m stunned by the way many Republicans behave and view the world — e.g. how uncharitable they are toward the poor, how easy it is for them to lie — and how markedly that behavior differs from the typical Democrat’s.

    Not that all the Dems are saints, of course, but I see a clear difference between the two parties in their morality and their sense of responsibility toward the less fortunate.

    And it isn’t just George Bush. As noted above,
    it’s Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Alberto Gonzales, Ted Stevens and others like them who are found in far greater numbers in the GOP than in the rival party.

    Why is that? What traumatic events in the lives of young Republicans turns them into lying, hard-hearted adults?

  • Joshua Rosenstock

    It is simply politics. Those that live in poorer neighborhoods have historically voted overwhelmingly Democratic so they naturally pander to those constituencies and draft legislation that is beneficial for them.

    If poor people ever started voting for Republicans, they would magically start caring about their interests. It isn’t morality at all but merely pure political survival.

  • Steve Levine

    Maybe so, Josh, but once again, I think the issue is broader than you imply.

    What you call pandering I prefer to think of as Democrats naturally having a more highly developed sense of social responsibility.

    It’s no coincidence that virtually every piece of legislation in our history that has made life better for the underprivileged (indeed, for MOST Americans) has been passed under Democratic leadership — and very often, despite Republican opposition.

    That tells me there’s something inherently decent in the Democrats’ makeup — a quality that seems to be missing among Republicans.
    Which once again raises the question, “Why is that?”

  • Joshua Rosenstock

    It is also no coincidence that virtually every piece of legislation in our history that has made life better for executives and corporate investors have been passed under Republican leadership. This is their base and who funds their campaigns.

    My continued advocacy for campaign finance reform is intended to diminish the influence that special interests have over our congressmen and subsequently the legislation passed that directly benefits those that can afford to in essence bribe our elected officials.

    Our Congress has been bought and sold by the highest bidders and the process needs to be reformed immediately if we are to be a true democratic republic.

  • Vince Williams

    Wow. Steve Levine is back with a vengeance.

    Right on.

  • DAD

    Hey Josh….It’s amazing how you and Steve got off the issue and went off in a totally different direction from where DM was taking us.

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