After eight years of Bush-Cheney fanatics accusing critics and dissenters of being treasonous or un-American, to see this garbage in a Rec List Daily Kos diary is disgusting in the extreme:
To stay home in November in order to "punish" the Dems because they are yet to deliver on everything they promised, and as a result let the party of Mitch McConnell, Sarah Palin and the teabaggers to retain power - is not only childish, it's almost a treason.
Here's a clue: criticism and dissent are not close to treason, they are fundamental American values. Not only is it not close to treason to sit out an election, it's also not close to treason to support the Party of McConnell and Palin. By the illogic of the above claim, Republicans all border on treason. They do not. They are wrong, on many levels, but their dissent and opposition is welcome. Extremism is not welcome from Republicans, but it is not welcome from Democrats, either.
Many of we critics plan to vote Democratic, this fall. But we activists are not the ones who will determine the election's outcome. It's the Independents and the less politically committed. If they don't choose to vote, or if they choose to vote Republican, it's not all their fault. The enthusiasm gap is very real, and it's our elected officials that are responsible for it, and for trying to close it. We activists can try to help, but the responsibility is mostly theirs.
Whatever one's political views, to equate political dissent with treason is the tactics of Cheney or Limbaugh. It has no place in rational political discourse. We Democrats should welcome dissent. We should attempt to persuade through reason.
We called it out when Republicans questioned the patriotism of political dissidents, during the Bush era. It's no less reprehensible, today. Those who sit out an election have every right to do so. Those who vote for Republicans have every right to do so. Not only is opposing a president not close to treason, it is, in fact, an expression of one of the essential values that make us American.
Update [2010-4-21 7:49:53 by Turkana]: BWD has posted an oblique clarification, and it merits a response. I also want to add a closing note, about some comments both here and in her own diary.
Her clarification:
ETA: Wow, i went out, went to sleep, came back and i see that a fire broke out because of me.
Yes. An angry rant that goes so far as to suggest that those who might sit out an election to protest a president's policies are almost committing treason provoked an angry firestorm. Who could have imagined?
I didn't mean any of it, it was just a quick rant and i was certain that everybody will understand what i mean by the word "treason" (though i never said that "opposition is almost treason", this is just a good spin for the sake of the rec list).
Given that she now claims not to have meant any of it, it's still not clear what she meant. Particularly with the word "treason," which she says she was certain everyone would understand the meaning of, even though she now says she didn't mean any of it. I, for one, have no idea what she means.
Anyway, clearly it was the wrong word to use, and for that - or any other word that offended anyone - i apologize.
It's nice that she apologizes, but given that she now claims she didn't mean any of it, and doesn't explain why she thinks she shouldn't have used that word other than that it offended some, it's not clear for what she is apologizing. It's not clear that she understands why the use of that word is offensive.
However, i stick behind the original purpose of this diary: In my opinion We'll be making a huge and costly and regrettable mistake if we stay home in November. That's all i'm saying. Sorry for the mess.
We agree that Democrats need to get out and vote, although I disagree that it is childish or almost treason if some don't. A huge and costly and regrettable mistake, yes. But it is the responsibility of the president and Congressional Democrats to give Democrats a reason to vote.
I also want to add that some are now taking issue with BWD's admission, through comments made on this site, that she is Israeli. Apparently, neither a resident nor a citizen of the United States. I do not see an inherent problem, in this. Two of this community's most respected members- Jerome a Paris and Patric Juillet- are neither residents nor citizens of the United States.
I do think some of the criticism is based on BWD's perhaps not being as personally invested in American political issues, particularly domestic issues. This, to me, is an argument worthy of discussion. But her being an Israeli does not in any way invalidate what she writes. As with all who post here, her diaries should be judged on their content, not on the nationality of their author. Her being an Israeli also should, finally, put to rest any lingering doubts that she is a paid Obama shill. I'm guessing that if Obama were to pay someone to blog here, it would be an American, who is steeped in American culture and American politics.