I'm apparently a terrible, awful person.

[davidthegnome]

188. You're not so terrible

I've been reading your posts on and off for years - and while I don't always agree with them, I tend to find them thoughtful and articulate. In this particular instance... I think you're absolutely right.

We can help to improve our President's performance by being critical when it is called for - he certainly doesn't need a whole Country full of yes-people! Neither do we.

During the time of the Bush administration, I recall a lot of conservatives labeling anyone who criticized the President as a "traitor". Now while what's going on here is not such an extreme scenario, it still bears (bares? Lions? Tigers? I don't know) a striking resemblance.

It's our damned civic responsibility to criticize him when he messes things up. He has actually told us on numerous occasions to hold his feet to the fire - he has, casting caution to the winds, told us that the buck stops with him. Perhaps we should take his word for it. We should be appropriately grateful and full of praise when he does something good - but we should equally be full of criticism and perhaps helpful suggestions when he screws things up. I don't think he'd want it any other way - I sure as hell wouldn't.

The sky is not falling... and you know what? No one has said that it is. I see nothing at all wrong with perfectly valid criticism and I find it to be both patriotic and constructive. We're not going to accomplish much by refusing to speak out - or by condemning others when they do.