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This Speakout has not been edited

By Margaret Fox, Sedalia

As a 76 year old lady, I have lived through the Depression, WWII, Korea, the Cold War, Viet Nam, the Black Hawk Down incident, 9/11, the Marine Barracks bombing in Lebanon, and the war in Afghanistan and now Iraq, plus countless other incidents. I am now in a state of extreme anger and frustration with the anti-american press, including your paper.

On page 22 of the RMN on Tuesday, the 22nd, you have an article of a survey done by ABC News, USA Today, the BBC, and ARD German TV. These are all, I repeat, all left wing publications and stations. Next to that article you have a picture of a little girl, looking frightened at a weapon held by a US soldier, as though she fears she is to be shot or harmed in some way.

I am a military wife; my husband served for 30 years in the service. It was a time of stress, fear, and chaos. The Cuba incident in the 60's, when my husband would be on alert for weeks at a time and I was left to deal with the children, emergencies at home, cars to be fixed, etc all took their toll.

But I knew that he was, along with thousands of others, protecting our country. It never occurred to me to criticize our President, our country, or anyone else for these situations. For a supposedly "news" publication to misrepresent our brave men and put them in harms' way by supporting the enemies of our country is unconscienceable, malicious, and smacks of a lack of patriotism to me.

I abhor and despise the, in my opinion, traitors who constantly tear down our beliefs and our constitution and encourage the enemy! (Jane Fonda and Cindy Sheehan, for instance) To claim that you support our troops but not the war in Iraq is mendacious.

The only law that seems to still apply is that we cannot shout "fire" in a crowded room. Freedom of speech is just that--speech. Not expression, not burning the flag, not calling our country bad names, disrespecting the office of the President and rowdy demonstrations with rag-tag trashy looking people milling about on our streets, impeding traffic, and otherwise costing the taxpayers money for controlling the mobs and cleaning up after them.

The liberal and socialistic communities delight in this, and are pushing their agenda for the downfall of our Republic. Read the Constitution! This is not a democracy!! We are a Republic!!! If you do not know the difference, look it up. Read history! No democracy has prevailed in the history of the world. They have all fallen and dictators, thugs, murderers, and incompetent rulers take over.

What does it take to get through to the hoi polloi (look it up) that they are the problem, not the solution. Those who do not own property should not be in charge of the government, as they have no vested interest in anything other than what they can get by their vote--and the rest of us pay for it!!

It is time for the general public to stop whining, demonstrating, painting themselves up like savages and generally causing problems for the rest of us. Look at both sides, try to think rationally instead of emotionally, and do what is best for our country. Remember the words of John F. Kennedy- "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country".

The majority of us can only pray that reason and sanity will return someday soon, before it is too late.

(Also, this is endorsed by my husband, Martin Fox, Colonel, USAF Retired)

READER COMMENTS

Where was all this "it would never occur to me to criticize the President" loyalty during the previous administration?

The Bush legacy. or idiots on parade

They scream and shout about it the (Wag The Dog War) as here we go again with more body bags and lies based on press releases that we’ll stay the course as the reality parades it self on the “sporting event” bomb finds another victim so everyone can see a new logo on the fox network about a ugly idol or shout down any form of reason.

Mrs. Fox with due respect I am 74 and am shamed by this administration and the “Rupert Murduck” Muck rake News. Inc and Fox gang sycophants dancing with the rapping Karl Rove lie merchant of misdirection and a idiots war for oil and greed..

I was a child of the depression, my mother worked at the CF&I for thirty years and I went to UD and then the Marine Corps in Korean War am a 100% disabled I also saw the stupidity of the Vietnam It is always is the money men that send the young to die for a buck in some Corporate balance sheet or the power of greed.

To quote another post “The best way to support the troops is to let them know that Bush’s incompetence is recognized and that we are doing something about it.”

From my point of view I conceder Bushville Boyz Communists as they have sold out this nation to every tom, dick and nation with the rip off trade agreement to help the Corporate slave traders kill the Good citizens of America .

Medicare lies, education lies and that wonderful Bushville,
VP Cheney “Go ---- yourself” leadership and the Halliburton private (Blackwater Corporation) army.

We must add a new sycophant a “Karl Rove” Mrs. Fox perhaps a shill for the Fox media propaganda machine.

This total (Huxley) non-think speak, mercury in tuna for the world to eat, oil, gas and energy rip offs
( I wonder also where the Saudi’s pay off went )?

Along with a line up of the Bushville Folly Boyz and the great "Wag the dog war “ special interest GOP fascist secret keepers saying 'it's to complex for we the people to understand."

Add to all this the uninsured medical drug card fraud with the greedy phony pill pushing Bush “drug pushers” stealing all they can coupled with the corporate outsourcing and job and plant thieves.

That say retraining for jobs that don't exist is the best thing
since sliced bread . Just like outsourcing E-loanes dot com lets every one in India have your personal information on your whole life?

Maybe you like paying 39 percent interest on your credit card.

How about paying the Chinese Communist Party over
$2,000,000,000.00 per day in interest on the money we have barrowed.
And that great bargain trap Wal-Mart that allows the “Gumps” department store concept to kill mom and pop quality, craftsmanship and small town people enterprise?

Mrs. Fox maybe you like the fact that over 69 percent of the major Corporations and Company’s pay no taxes to support this the very nation and middle class helped build?

This President and his administration have as much care about the good citizens of the middle class in this great land of ours as a hoard of shrews eating there body weight every 20 minuets
Along with Kafka cockroaches in the wall thinking of a new way to bug every one so will all become corporate slaves to serve their greed.

Just a eye flash from the Armadillo underground at the Crawford Fiefdom at “Bushville Follies HGQ.

My father served over 30 years in the military (his squadron missed D-Day because many came down with chicken pox - indicating their average age). I have a brother who retired after 20 years, his wife left the military after 12 years, a sister who served 16 years & another brother who served 4 years - and I can agree with SOME of the hardships that this lady has expressed. However, while a high-schooler in the Vietnam era, my father pointed out that nobody hates a war as much as the one who is on the front lines. Perhaps if anyone in the Bush administration had ever beein in harm's way (or if they stood to lose someone to their decisions) they would have been more serious in pursuing a true war on terror (in other words, continuing the search for Osama bin Laden) instead of going on a vendetta against our one-time Republican sponsored ally Saddam Hussein.

That said - I would like to quote 2 Republicans who criticized Democratic presidents in time of war (I wonder if the author of the opinion piece would consider them anti-American too)
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” — Theodore Roosevelt.

"As a matter of general principle, I believe there can be no doubt that criticism in time of war is essential to the maintenance of any kind of democratic government ... too many people desire to suppress criticism simply because they think that it will give some comfort to the enemy to know that there is such criticism. If that comfort makes the enemy feel better for a few moments, they are welcome to it as far as I am concerned, because the maintenance of the right of criticism in the long run will do the country maintaining it a great deal more good than it will do the enemy, and will prevent mistakes which might otherwise occur"
- Senator Robert A. Taft, December 19, 1941 (12 days post-Pearl Harbor Attack)

How can nearly every reputable news organization possibly have a "liberal bias?"

You might as well try to claim that the truth has a liberal slant as well.

Facts are facts. George W. Bush is one of the most unpopular presidents in recent history -- and there are good reasons for that. Even die-hard Republicans are displeased with the president's abysmal performance and failure to heed the will of the people.

The president has abused the powers granted him by the Patriot Act and has circumvented many of our country's laws by issuing literally hundreds of signing statements that make him and his cohorts exempt from the very laws that he was elected to uphold.

I support the troops, but I cannot blindly support a president who consistently makes poor decisions and is completely out of touch with reality.

I can't wait until January 2009.

If you want change, eliminate the corrupt, 2 party system. Vote only for strict Constitutionalists for all elected offices. And don't believe a single thing the mainstream media tells you to believe.

Wow!!! what hate mongers and nasty writers who don't have the courage of their convictions to sign a name to their tripe. Does the paper print this trash sent in by emailer's with no name?

This is one of the more daft, ill-informed Speakout pieces that I've seen.

Mrs. and Col. Fox should take take a moment to realize that if it were'nt for the so-called "liberal media" and those that question our leaders, various abuses and misdeeds would never have been brought to light. Watergate, Iran-Contra, et al. would have never been disclosed- the public would have remained ignorant.

The citizenary not only has a right to know what its leaders are up to, but a duty to know what they are up to. This makes our government more responsive to the people that they represent in the Republic.

It should be remembered that blind obiedence to our elected officials is not an American value. However, the right to dissent is not only an American value, but one one of our founding principles.

Oh come on honey, I think you've been wearing your Nazi helmet a little too tight on your head. So you think we should just goose step to the rantings and ravings of the likes of Bush and Cheney?
Lest you forget, the reason this country is a great nation, is that we are able to criticize our leaders.

And who pays for your Social Security check? Why, all of those property-less ragamuffins. Pick their pockets and pilfer their votes!

You didn't mention which side your husband was fighting on during the Cuba crisis. From the tone of your letter, I'm guessing he was with the Russkies.

Margaret, your simplistic viewpoint is ridiculous. Of course the president should be criticized when his policies are so boneheaded and disastrous for the country and the world. Your letter smacks of totalitarianism, just shut up and let the government do what it wants. I'm sure you would have been right at home in Germany from 1933 to 1945. You want real traitors? How about Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby and Rumsfield for outing a covert CIA agent?
Get a grip, you neo-conservative bozo..

Methinks there is a Fox in the henhouse, Maggie, (if that's your real name) , you should be ashamed of yourself, acting as a shill for the Fox media propaganda machine.
The "rag-tag trashy looking hoi-palloi" are the only true Constitution- respecting, patriotic, USA loving citizens standing between you and the (right wing) dictators that have been systematicly destroying that very same Constitution you profess to revere. Look it up, it's all around you . But you won't see it on Fox. Perhaps you should ask Pat Tillman's Mom what HE thought of the war to which he gave his life.He was duped and he was pissed, and now he's dead.
God bless Jane Fonda and Cindy Sheehan!

When I was in the service, I didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to the New York Times, Congress, my state legislature or the sexual preferences of my peers.

The one thing that *did* demoralize me more than anything was the feeling that my superiors were incompetent, and that *their* superiors weren’t going to do anything about.

The best way to support the troops is to let them know that Bush’s incompetence is recognized and that we are doing something about it.

Love the line about "Those who do not own property should not be in charge of the government" -- haven't heard that argument since about, oh, 1780 or so. . .

I think Ms. Fox needs to "read her history" and "look a few things up" herself. That is, as long as her husband "endorses" it.

I, too detest the "America bashers". Thank-you so much for writing your letter. You have
expressed all of my sentiments.

Traitors who tear down our beliefs and constiution?

Could she be referring to the Bush administration?

There's no quicker path to totalitarianism than the idea that criticizing government is treasonous.

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