Letter: Being critical is a cherished right

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004 | 9:17 a.m.

Once again, as a liberal who opposes President Bush's policies, I am being told to like it or pick up and move to a less free country. This time Betty Jean Waite proposes such in a recent letter to the editor. She suggests that then "maybe" I'll learn to appreciate what this administration "is doing for our country."

Ms. Waite's suggestion is made in her defense of Bush's foreign policy of ridding the world of the bad guys such as Saddam Hussein. She states that once the bad guys are gone then and only then can the citizens vote and pursue happiness.

Why is it that people such as Ms. Waite want to instill in other nations the right and freedom to openly disagree with current policies and advocate for change, while at the same telling liberals in this country to get in lockstep or get out?

Liberals love this country. They greatly appreciate the fact they have the right to openly disagree and openly advocate for change. By disagreeing with the Bush administration's policies, both domestic and foreign, we liberals are merely exercising the very rights and freedoms that Ms. Waite wishes for "Iran, Iraq and other places."

Ms. Waite supports President Bush's wish to establish democracy in Iraq. To suggest that liberals in the United States should automatically fall into lockstep behind his administration, simply because he was re-elected for another four years, reeks highly of hypocrisy.

TERRY E PEELE