Dissent is American tradition

Re: "Why run Bush-hating columnist?" July 22. Molly Ivins' opinion column reflects a discerning mind and pen on all her columns, She, like others, daily dedicate themselves to analyzing the daily performance of our officials in the three branches of federal government.

Our duty as Americans is to be informed as possible and to be discriminating on what exactly is being said and done. To accept carte blanche what any elected official states is, as Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, said "That we are to stand by the president, right or wrong is morally treasonable to the American public." Remember the U.S. Constitution as amended by the "Bill of Rights" (ratified on Dec. 15, 1791) in the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech or the press..." Another Republican, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine -81st Congress, June 1, 1950, stated "...all too frequently...(we) ignore some basic principles of Americanism: The right to criticize, the right to hold unpopular beliefs, the right to protest, the right of independent thought."

Raymond R, Aleman

Osburn , ID

The Spokesman Review