A New Low?


By: Alex Gallo

Is it possible?  Is it possible that our national dialogue has hit an all time low?  I think it has…

Yesterday, in anticipation of GEN Petraeus’ testimony in Congress, the liberal, anti-war group, MoveOn.org, bought a full page ad in the New York Times defaming GEN Petraeus as “GEN Betray Us”. 

It is absolutely unconscionable to me that any group, even those that are reflexively anti-war, would stoop so slow as to use anti-intellectual, defamation tactics in order to make a political point – all within the context of the most critical dialogue that a nation will ever engage in – whether or not to commit young Americans to fight a war for our nation.  In fact, MoveOn.org chose to engage in these low-brow, purely political tactics even when it and its affiliates are the first to criticize the Bush Administration of engaging in the very same anti-intellectual, defaming tactics.  I’m pretty sure that MoveOn.org would vigorously argue that the anti-intellectual nature of President Bush embodies much of the reason why are are engaged in an unnecessary, illegal, and immoral war. 

While I strongly disagree with MoveOn.org’s sentiment, it is not unreasonable in a democracy for citizens and activist groups to take strong positions — particularly on issues of life and death.  But is it unreasonable to ask those, who strongly hold these views, to do it in such a way that they argue their points on the merits of the issues and not on the quality of their smear?

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Perspective


By: Alex Gallo

In my first blog on Roguely Stated, I did not want to immediately jump into the rhetorical combat that makes this blog both interesting as well as insightful.  On the contrary, I want to take a moment to pause and remember those who carry out our national security policy — our armed forces.  Also, I wanted to remember the innocent people in the world who our nation endeavors to protect.  We often debate the policies in a vacuum, but for anyone who has served up close and personal with the people who are directly affected by our policies — it is well worth the reflection.  As we discuss and debate various security policies in our national discourse, we must always maintain a special appreciation for and consciousness of the consequences of our nation’s policy decisions.

But first, our military. Continue Reading »