Letter: Americans have the right to criticize Bush

Monday, June 12, 2006 | 7:22 a.m.

The letter published in your June 8 edition from Lee S. Gliddon Jr. is so wrong and so wrongheaded (to borrow one of Mr. Gliddon's own descriptions).

Mr. Gliddon excoriates Sen. Harry Reid and his Democratic cohorts for resorting to "gloom and doom" to discredit anything that George W. Bush does. First, Mr. Bush has done quite enough on his own to discredit most of his own actions, from the unnecessary war in Iraq and its concomitant and growing casualty count, to his giveaways to the wealthy and his corporate benefactors, to his suggestion of amnesty for those who are in this country illegally.

Second, I must point out to Mr. Gliddon that my father, and many other brave men, fought in World War II, and in other wars, to defend the rights of the American people to criticize Mr. Bush (or any other elected official) and to discredit him wherever he is wrong, which is in nearly every aspect of his policies. Mr. Gliddon's exhortations to "pull together" and spare Mr. Bush any criticism seek nothing less than to take away that right, and I urge Mr. Gliddon to go read his Constitution again.

This country needs a true leader, who will take adverse opinions into account, seriously research and debate the issues, seek actual knowledge rather than catchy slogans, and then attempt to reach consensus that will be in the best interests of America and Americans. Mr. Bush is waaaay wide of the mark.

Jennifer Johnston Smith, Las Vegas