I wonder what they'll do to Joe The Shoe Thrower

[Don Kiyoti]

I don't recall a hue and cry when Tommy Franks set the troops loose on Iraq. Where were all you naysayers then?

Are you joking?? Talk about selective memory! February 15, 2003: 6,000,000 to 10,000,000 people in over 60 countries took to the streets in opposition to the imminent invasion of Iraq. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15...ar_protest http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/02/15/sprj.ir...ests.main/

Look, he's the POTUS. He represents us. Respect the office even if you don't like the man. That jerk was throwing shoes at our President.

Good for him. In the Arab world, throwing a shoe at someone is pretty much the ultimate insult. Of course Bush wouldn't understand that because he has no interest in other cultures.

If I were invited to the White House, I'd surely wear a suit and tie and behave myself with the proper decorum, out of respect for the office. But I do not think I'd shake Bush's hand. He is unworthy of my respect.

If Bush is so proud of his legacy in Iraq, let him move there to live.

[Stizzealth]

Black Landlord:

You assume that dissent is automatically correct, because pessimism always sounds sage. But that's just plain wrong. I enjoy using my freedom to disagree with you, as you enjoy (misguidedly) your freedom to dump on the President.

A little wordplay for today:

If dissent is the highest form of patriotism, and treason is the highest form of dissent, is treason patriotic?

[Panopticon]

[quote AP -]
Dateline New York City:
NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has dispatched recruiters to Baghdad, Iraq to offer a contract to "Shoeless" Muntadar al-Zeidi.
Steinbrenner commented "The Yankees need an arm like that in the bullpen next season".
...stranger things have happened :patriot:

[Mac1337]

Black Landlord wrote:
The man has the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocents on his hands swampy. He charged into a war in the wrong country and devastated it for his own personal gain and for those around him.
Respect has to be earned. His was squandered long ago. He has disgraced the office, and frankly I find it un-american that you're not willing to celebrate your freedom to acknowledge that.

By this yardstick every US president has blood on his hands. Let's start with your icon, FDR and move right along to Truman, JFK, Johnson, Clinton and soon Obama. With so much disdain for the highest office in the land I would renounce my citizenship if I were you.

[kj]

I suppose it depends on the definition of respect, but I try to show some type of respect for people, no matter how awful they are. Not exactly sure how that works, but I think some types of disrespect are unacceptable under any circumstances. I don't know W well enough to say with certainty what he deserves. I obviously don't know the shoe-thrower, fwiw, so I'm not going to condemn him either. If he doesn't like bush, that's fine with me, but throwing things at people doesn't accomplish much, other than to make him look nuts. kj.

[deckeda]

Dakota wrote:
By this yardstick every US president has blood on his hands.

Safety in numbers? The current Pres can't be critiziced because the previous ones were not perfect? Where does this logic come from?

[deckeda]

Stizzealth wrote:
If dissent is the highest form of patriotism, and treason is the highest form of dissent, is treason patriotic?

Could be, if treason was just another kind of dissent. Common definitions of treason are a wee bit stronger than describing dissent, however.

[Stizzealth]

Merriam-Webster defines "dissent" in its verb form as "to differ in opinion". Treason is certainly the most extreme form of "difference of opinion", as it utilizes abnormal channels to achieve the means of changing the "status quo" to something more agreeable in the eyes' of the dissenter.

[deckeda]

If treason is an extreme form of dissent, at what point does it no longer become just dissent? Is treason always dissent? If so, then dissent must always be treason?

[Stizzealth]

Explained in mathematical terms, "treason" is a value in the subset of "dissent", which is in turn a member of the larger set of "political expression". Just because treason is a value of the subset labeled "dissent" does not mean that all dissent is treason- there are all sorts of other types of dissent, much of which is constructive.