Here is the now-infamous quote from President Obama on the subject of proposed nationalized health care and and those who oppose it:
But I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way so we can clean up the mess. I don’t mind cleaning up after them, but don’t do a lot of talking.
Compare his statement with the following quotes on the subject of protest and dissent. All but one of the persons cited below are Democrats. The last quote is from a significant and influential German Nazi. I threw it in there as a nod to Nancy Pelosi, who seems to be fascinated with all things Nazi these days. I will leave it up to you, dear reader, to draw your own conclusions. In the mean time, if you haven’t already done so, be sure to report this blog to flag@whitehouse.gov. There is definitely something “fishy” about this posting!
We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.
Martin Luther King Jr.
We do not move forward by curtailing people’s liberty because we are afraid of what they may do or say.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.
Harry S. Truman
I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration somehow you’re not patriotic. We should stand up and say we are Americans and we have a right to debate and disagree with any administration.
Hillary Clinton
We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans…
Bill Clinton
Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed — and no republic can survive.
John F. Kennedy
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.
Edward R. Murrow
Freedom is hammered out on the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate.
Hubert H. Humphrey
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
If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.
Joseph Goebbels
