Is speaking against the President's policies a form of treason or patriotism?

Answer 1

dissent is part and parcel of being a patriot....
IF that "dissent" gives aid and comfort to the enemy then it is treason.

Answer 2

Technically, it's neither. But it's DEFINITELY not treason.

Patriots are generally considered to be a supporter of ones country. I have a hard time believing that there are people in America who are not patriots (although I've seen a few here on Answers.) As a supporter of this country, you respect all the rights that go with it, including the ability to speak out against a person's political views, and the political stance the United States has at any given point.

If you feel that the U.S. or it's leadership is doing wrong, it is your patriotic right to speak out against it (of course, you are free not to, as well.) If you feel the U.S. or it's leadership is doing right, you have the right to speak in defense of it. A dissenter of current policy has the EXACT same freedom of speech that a supporter has.

Before our Independence, speaking out against the Crown was treason, punishable by death. Now, we are all free to express our political views against our leaders or national law or policy without worrying about retaliation. How many other places can say that?

Isn't America great?

Answer 3

Is speaking against the President's policies a form of treason or patriotism?
Speaking against a Presidents policies is theoritically considered dissent (withholding assent or disagreeing). It would of course depend on the motives of such speech such as trying to undermine the effectivness of that president in carrying out their duties to protect the country. In the former case my opinion is that It is neither treason nor patriotism in an of itself.
Even Repeating Lies in that speech to win an argument would not in my opinion be considered treason.
but doing so to undermine a governments ability to defend itself would be treasonous

Read these definitions of both words,
from wikipedia and Merriam-Webster

Patriotism as defined by Merriam-Webster is:
: love for or devotion to one's country
Pretty simple stuff Huh?


Wikipedia defines TREASON thusly
In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to one's nation or state. A person who betrays the nation of their citizenship and/or reneges on an oath of loyalty and in some way willfully cooperates with an enemy, is considered to be a traitor.
Oran's Dictionary of the Law (1983) defines treason as: "...[a]...citizen's actions to help a foreign government overthrow, make war against, or seriously injure the [parent nation]." In many nations, it is also often considered treason to attempt or conspire to overthrow the government, even if no foreign country is aided or involved by such an endeavour.
Merriam-Websters defines it simply
1 : the betrayal of a trust : TREACHERY
2 : the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family

A previous poster stated:
The neo cons have been spreading there hate for months now about this nonsense.
Although i personnally do not think it treason, i resent the implication that conservatives are filled with hate.
Being a Libertarian, i am offended by the rancid retoric coming from the Left designed to cut off debate (ignore the 1st amendment) and win their argument.
That is a deliberate attempt to limit speech. and is certainly TREASONOUS.
I may disagree with both liberals and conservatives on certain points but speech needs to be open, fair, informative and truthful
This will occur only when the constitution is read literally and historically.Liberals must stop ignoring it when it pleases them.
and use logic and fact to back up their claims.

Answer 4

It all depends on the criticism and the way it is delivered if it is a constructive or reasonable dissent then fine but threats and slander or libel and I think it also depends on where you choose to speak against the President. If you do it here in America Okay but it does seem a bit treasonous or very close to it to go to another country and do it especially in a country that is not on friendly terms.

Answer 5

It's patriotism and a right we're guaranteed by the Constitution - 1st Amendment, among others. If it was a form of treason, half the people on here would be headed for Guantanamo or another of Bush's torture camps.

Answer 6

Speaking against political policies that are detrimental to society is the highest act of Patriotism. To not speak out against indignities is to subborn treason!

Answer 7

Its always been about patriotism, in fact Theodore Roosevelt has a quote about it, and the neo cons can't stand it because he was a republican. The neo cons have been spreading there hate for months now about this nonsense. Why? Because its all they've got. They preach about the left being the party of hate, but if you pay attention to there questions and answers, there full of just as much if not more hate. The day the public can't discuss dissent, is the day Ameirca becomes a fascist state.

Answer 8

In this so-called civilized America we would hope to think most would view it as the right of an American citizens, surely not treason. Our forefathers spoke quite openly in discussion for and against. Lets keep it ok to agree to disagree.

Answer 9

It is amazing that this is even a question. We cannot live in this country without being able to express our support or non-support without be labeled. What are we even about as a democracy or democratic republic if we cannot voice our opinion. Are we ready to do away with freedom of speech? If we are then we have no business in Iraq or anywhere else talking about establishing democracy. The other day on Good Morning America, they reported about a Christian bible camp where they had little children laying around a cut-out of Bush and being told to "bless" it. How pitiful is that?

Answer 10

I really don't think it's treason, It's part of the First Ammendment,free speech.