There is an old saying that usually comes into play when some group, often a military platoon, is about to take advantage of a brief lull before some important, heated, restrictive battle: "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" is how it goes. It relates to cigarettes, and the idea that if you are going to want one, now is the time to light up, because you may not get another chance for awhile.
Today's online edition of the Washington Times (www.washingtontimes.com) features a poll asking whether the Obama administration should have contacted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Iran's supreme religious leader) before the Iranian elections.
The poll is in response to a lead article at the paper's website which reports that the Obama administration sent a letter to Khamenei calling for an improvement in relations between the U.S and Iran. Khamenei referenced the letter last week during a sermon in which he accused the U.S. of fomenting dissent following the Iranian elections.
My problem or point here is not the article itself, the poll, or even the issues of Iran and the so-far feeble Obama administration response to Iran. Our new President is mad. Really, really mad, darn it. You can tell, because yesterday he "strongly" condemned the Iranian regimes unjust actions towards the street protesters of the rigged elections. Strongly.
No, my problem is with the supporters of America's first socialist President. When you answer the poll question, it takes you to the updated poll results and a commentary page. Here anyone who is registered with the site can make comments about the poll, and anyone at all can read these comments, even if not registered.
There is one answer that encapsulates the liberal, progressive, socialist mindset towards anyone who expresses Obama-dissent. Here a poster calling themselves 'TheProgressiveTruth' says that "conservative ideas are discredited and are not taken seriously by serious people."
Fair enough. That's showing political bias, but this is America, and they are free to express their political views. The problem comes with his next statement: "My advice, again: shut up!" Here they show their true stripes. Those with differing opinions need to be silenced.
There are many liberal politicians and partisans who subscribe to this line of thinking. They call for a radio 'Fairness Doctrine' (sic) that would silence conservative talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh, Bill Bennett, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and others, simply because they disagree with these conservative commentators but cannot come up with liberal commentators to draw a sustainable audience.
Bottom line is, liberals and progressives cannot win the battle of ideas in the public square, just as they cannot win at the polling booth on social ideas such as the farcical gay marriage issue. They lose every time one of these issues is balloted and put directly to the voters. Instead, they seek to "shut up" conservatives and force their views through controlled media and through the courts.
Barack Obama, his administration, and his colleagues in Congress have been seriously over-reaching in their valuation of their recent electoral victories. The American people voted for a change, but absolutely did not vote for the type of change that weakens or cheapens democracy and capitalism, or that calls for silence from its opponents.
Have some opinions on the issues that matter to you and your family, opinions that are different than the Obama administration and the former mainstream media try to force down the throat of the public. Then I have just one message for you: express 'em if you got 'em!
