Sunday, April 30, 2006
Dissent No Party, Dissent No Disco, Dissent No Fooling Around
Mark Steyn, again, takes leading members of the Democrat Party apart over an apocryphal Jefferson quote--"Dissent is the greatest form of patriotism"--quoted by John Kerry, Ted Kennedy and lesser light lefties. It's not Jefferson; it's probably Nadine Strosser, a luminary at the ACLU. Not really that close.
Here's what the Jefferson Library says: "There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson's correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes are: 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' "
Steyn uses sarcasm like a scalpel.
What does it mean when so many senior Democrats take refuge in an obvious bit of hooey? Thomas Jefferson would never have said anything half so witless. There is no virtue in dissent per se. When John F. Kennedy said, "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty" -- and, believe it or not, that's a real quote, though it's hard to imagine any Massachusetts Democrat saying such a thing today -- I could have yelled out, "Hey, screw you, loser." It would have been "dissent," but it wouldn't have been patriotic, and it's certainly not a useful contribution to the debate, any more than that of the University of North Carolina students at Chapel Hill who recently scrawled on the doors of the ROTC armory "F--- OFF!" and "WE WON'T FIGHT YOUR WARS!"
But don't say they're not patriotic.
Here's what the Jefferson Library says: "There are a number of quotes that we do not find in Thomas Jefferson's correspondence or other writings; in such cases, Jefferson should not be cited as the source. Among the most common of these spurious Jefferson quotes are: 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.' "
Steyn uses sarcasm like a scalpel.
What does it mean when so many senior Democrats take refuge in an obvious bit of hooey? Thomas Jefferson would never have said anything half so witless. There is no virtue in dissent per se. When John F. Kennedy said, "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty" -- and, believe it or not, that's a real quote, though it's hard to imagine any Massachusetts Democrat saying such a thing today -- I could have yelled out, "Hey, screw you, loser." It would have been "dissent," but it wouldn't have been patriotic, and it's certainly not a useful contribution to the debate, any more than that of the University of North Carolina students at Chapel Hill who recently scrawled on the doors of the ROTC armory "F--- OFF!" and "WE WON'T FIGHT YOUR WARS!"
But don't say they're not patriotic.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 4:54 PM 
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Make sure you are equally vigilant when you see quotes supporting religion in government by the likes of James Madison and Patrick Henry.
I'm just as happy with the free exercise part as I am with the no establishment part. The men who created our country were usually religious. Thanks for the warning about faux quotes from Madison and Henry. Virginia must be beautiful about now. It's dry here.
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