To the readers of Fillmore County Journal:
These quotations from President Theodore Roosevelt are more than 100 years old but crucially important today:
“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.”
“To educate a person in the mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.”
If we call ourselves patriotic, if we live by the law, if we cherish our Constitution and treasure our Democracy, we must act to return to the values and ideals by which we live.
Sonja Cook
Rushford, Minn.
Leave a Reply