Dusty Campbell – 10/23/08

This page was last updated on October 26, 2008.

Liberals use tactics of Hitler and Stalin; Dusty Campbell; Beaver County Times; October 23, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“In response to Thursday’s letter to the editor ‘Repairing the damage Bush has done:’

“The Patriot Act has stopped several possible attacks on our soil, like the Brooklyn Bridge and the JFK airport bomb plot, to name a few publicized accounts.

“The NSA has done a commendable job of foiling attempts by those who are trying to destroy our great country.

“We are at war. We need to do what is necessary to stop terrorists from blowing up our national landmarks and killing innocent people. If people aren’t doing anything illegal, then what do they have to worry about?”

[RWC] While I believe all the programs I know about make sense, the “If people aren’t doing anything illegal, then what do they have to worry about?” position is wrong.

“I know liberals will pull out their handbooks and find a pithy mantra to chant. They will try to scare me into shutting my mouth with negative terms. That is what they do. These were also the first tactics used by Hitler, Stalin, Castro, Chavez and others.”

[RWC] This paragraph is the primary reason I’m commenting on this letter. It’s rarely justified or useful to compare someone to the Hitlers, et cetera of the world, and this isn’t one of those rare times.

“Just remember that there hasn’t been another attack since Sept. 11, 2001, and as long as there is a true Republican commander-in-chief, there will not be another.”

[RWC] Sorry, but even with “a true Republican commander-in-chief,” no one can claim there will never be another attack on U.S. soil. It’s simply too easy to attack a free country like the U.S.

“Someone has to protect critics like the letter writer, even from themselves.”