The latest trendy attack on anyone who can think for themselves is to
label them "anti-government." This derogatory slur, strewn around by the
same people who once used the term "conspiracy theorist" to try to
demean investigative journalists, is the domain of the intellectually
lazy who are, themselves, ignorant of the origins, structure and history
of government.
Over two centuries ago, people like Thomas
Jefferson and George Washington were not merely called "anti-government"
by the British; they were called traitors and treasonous criminals. And
yet Jefferson and Washington were clearly pro-government because they were instrumental in establishing an entirely new government
-- one based on respecting individual liberties and rights, where
citizens held power over a government which existed solely to serve the
interests of the citizens (and protect their rights).
Jefferson
and Washington never could have imagined a day when a person exercising
free speech -- the First Amendment -- would be denigrated as
"anti-government" for criticizing the operations or policies of the
current administration running the government. Criticism of government
is not "anti-government." It is, in fact, the patriotic duty of every
American citizen -- to keep government honest, to call for improvement
in its operation and to eliminate it where it produces only waste
instead of results.
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