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On the “you’re questioning my patriotism” cry

Beldar takes no prisoners [1] in his post slamming anti-war lefties like Speaker Nancy Pelosi for exclaiming [2] just about everytime someone criticizes the Dem plan for Iraq that it equates to ‘questioning patriotism.’

I’ve posted at this blog before that this is a typical lefty tactic when it comes to discussing anything related to our national security. If a Dem advocates it, and a Republican criticizes it, the criticism in and of itself – without examining whether or not it has merit – is automatically characterized as ‘questioning patriotism.’ It’s a way the left attempts to stifle debate, by trying to make Republicans too fearful of criticizing what the Dems are advocating.

I think the issue of ‘questioning patriotism’ is overblown by the left. Now, some of their complaints are valid. Thoughtful criticism of the admin’s WOT policies in and of itself is not unpatriotic and shouldn’t be labelled as such, but sometimes it is. No one is every going to agree with every single thing the administration has advocated with respect to the WOT, and that’s something we need to keep in mind when judging criticisms made by the left (and some on the right) towards the admin’s WOT policies.

That said, sometimes it is entirely appropriate to question patriotism: like over Rep. John Murtha’s wish for a ‘slow bleed’ strategy [3] that would choke off funds to our military to the point the President had no choice to withdraw from Iraq. I can, have, and will question his patriotism on that. When Democrats pass wussified ‘non-binding’ measures [4] designed to ‘show opposition’ to the President’s surge plan without putting their money with their mouths are. That’s a good reason to question patriotism, because clearly they’re putting politics ahead of what they think is best their country. If they weren’t, they’d pass a binding resolution. But they figure a binding resolution would be political suicide. And when sitting a sitting US Senator visits [5] an ally of Iraq in January 2002 and alerts a high-ranking official there that he believes the US is planning on attacking Iraq. Well, I don’t think that is patriotic, either.

Updated: In semi-related news, Daniel W. Reilly and Jim VandeHei at The Politico [6] write about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s penchant for breaking campaign promises. Toldjah So [7].