"Dissent is Patriotic"

So we were told for much of the previous eight years. Dissent for the sake of dissent is not "patriotic." Dissent based on reasons and rationale is a responsibility. Our Government is out of control, but we have elected it.

No, the people of the 6th District did not vote for Obama, nor Pelosi, nor Murtha, nor Reid, but we did vote for Bart Gordon who is supporting their every whim, like a whipped dog. When I first considered running for his seat, I expected there would be little to differentiate my positions, our positions from his.

I had hope that the Blue Dog Democrats would provide the rational resistance to many of the things promised on the campaign trail last year. Instead, I have found nothing but disappointment in his voting record. I'm sure if I searched thoroughly enough, I could find something, and I should. I'm told he's a nice guy and he certainly seems to be.

I've been quiet lately, mainly because there is little positive to say. I'm truly concerned for the direction this government is headed. Our Congress, at the behest of the President has quadrupled the deficit, with the full support of Our Elected Congressman.

They are cutting the Defense Budget at the same time that we're paying $328,000 for an Air Force photo op that struck fear in the people of New York. And the President laughed about it.

While more is being asked of Our Troops, their numbers and pay raises and bonuses are being cut with the backing of Our Elected Politician, at the behest of Obama, Pelosi, Frank, and Murtha. In the upcoming year, more of our Troops will be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan than at any time in the last 8 years. Troops are being deployed straight to Afghanistan from Baghdad.

Within hours of North Korean Missile tests, Weapon Systems were cut from the Army, Air Force and Navy, including the Marines. North Korea even now threatens war if even the weak measures suggested are taken against them. 28,500 US Troops in South Korea are now potentially in harm's way against a Million Man Nuclear armed Army of North Korea.

General McKiernan's career has been ended with an excuse of "we needed a new face." It appears to be a purely political decision.

Partisan slogans are resulting in stubbornly shutting down a piece of ground that has done nothing wrong. The Terrorists detained at Guantanamo are the worst of the worst. No torture ever occurred there. It is and has been run in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. The terrorists are not Americans. They have no Constitutional Rights.

The terrorists at Gitmo are combatants, not just common criminals. They are war criminals, but the Geneva Conventions allows them to be held until the end of hostilities, without trial. They may be tried for war crimes and if found guilty held beyond the end of hostilities. But if found "not guilty," they can be returned to Gitmo, as per the Geneva Conventions.

Moreover, in this time of economic hardship, in these times of record deficits, it is fiscally irresponsible to close Gitmo and build a new one somewhere else, costing billions of dollars more, when it done for nothing more than political sloganeering.

Tennessee Taylor©2009, TNT, all rights reserved