Bob McNamara, Upham

Do people really believe in the constitution? Forty percent plus of people in an MDN poll said they are okay with using the military to provide law enforcement in our cities. Boats are blown up because we suspect they are runnting drugs. Government officials are using their position to limit free speech. Yet all of these people say they believe in the constitution and America.

Obviously, we have the ability to track suspicious boats in the Caribbean. There was a time, however, when the Navy or Coast Guard would stop that boat, board it, and if drugs are found, arrest and prosecute the occupants. Certainly if the boat ran or fired upon the naval ships they would be blown up. But the first action would be a legal attempt to stop and board the boat to verify the suspicion and then prosecute. That is what America was.

The FCC commissioner, and the president for that matter, have implied and threatened the loss of a license for someone exercising their free speech in a manner they didn’t like. Currently, two companies, who have made a concerted effort over the last twenty years to buy TV stations and media in order to get their message out, have banned a late night talk show host who they don’t like. To be honest I don’t watch late night TV and I don’t watch Jimmy Kimmel. I know who he is and I have seen clips. Whether I like him or not he has the freedom to say what he says.

Although these are private companies, they are companies that have a government license and should abide by the constitution. Part of that licensing should be their guarantee that they will provide for freedom of speech. If they cannot guarantee that freedom they should not be licensed. That is what America was.

I’m a Ronald Reagan George Bush type. These would not be the actions of those men. As part of an editorial he once wrote for the Kansas City Star Teddy Roosevelt said, “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,”

I see and hear talk of patriotism and flag flying these days. Patriotism, however, is to the country and the constitution, not a party or administration. I wonder if our congressional delegation believes that.