When did Dissent Become Terrorism?

To the Editor:
“I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic.” – Sen. Hillary Clinton, 2003
Mrs. Clinton and I may not agree on much politically. But her above referenced comment is spot on. However, many in her own party apparently believe that this fundamental right of dissent only applies when a Republican is in the White House.
The March 12 Letter to the Editor, “Republicans are Terrorists” is sadly typical of the state of political discourse in our country today. As a Republican, I am tempted to fire back. I’m tempted to refute the blatantly distorted characterizations and half-truths. I‘m itching to dismantle the predictable talking points of the left and expose the hypocrisy so evident in this wandering diatribe of hyperbolic hatred. But to what end? Is there any point in arguing with someone who labels dissenting opinions as terrorism? And what point is there any longer in wrestling over which side can out shout the other?
By painting all Republicans as terrorists, the writer joins a dangerous chorus, lead by many on the left, bent on delegitimizing and marginalizing any opposition to the current administration. Rather than debate the issues on their merits, certain progressives seek to define their opposition as extremists, on the “wrong side of history” and disconnected from the majority of Americans. By declaring the GOP as an out of touch party on the brink of extinction, they hope to create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Repeat a lie long enough and it will eventually become the truth, right?
Never-ending, media-driven propaganda aside, reports of the conservative movement’s demise are greatly exaggerated. The Republican Party that the writer would label as “a terrorist organization” numbers over 47 million registered voters. This supposedly dwindling movement has been freely elected to hold the majority of governorships (29) and state legislatures (27) in the United States. All early indicators for the 2014 midterms point to an expanding GOP majority in the House of Representatives and the real possibility of a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. The Republican Party is alive and well and can offer Americans a positive and dynamic conservative alternative to the deepening crisis of Obama’s failed progressive experiment.
My friends on the left like to say that elections have consequences. Obama won and his opponents should just shut up. But the fact is all elections have consequences and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, as well as many of their compatriots in the Senate, were elected in direct response to the Democratic Party’s lurch to the left under President Obama. These Republicans were elected (and many reelected in 2012) to put the brakes on the “fundamental transformation of America.” Their role is every bit as legitimate as the role of our duly elected president and they have a responsibility to defend Congress’s role as an equal partner to the president and the courts in America’s governance.
We may be a country divided. This does not disqualify the opinions of those in the minority nor the merits of their arguments. Blatant and insidious attempts by those in power and their minions to intimidate, punish and criminalize dissenting opinions have no place in a free and open society and no one who understands the importance of freedom of speech should accept this bullying.
The power to set our course to a better America is in our hands. It always has been. But only if we can rekindle the kindred spirit that binds us all as Americans; the love of freedom, the responsibilities of liberty and fealty to the right of free expression enshrined in our Constitution. Let’s stop burning bridges and start building them.
E pluribus unum…