Reply #112: "Intolerance betrays

[H2O Man]

want of faith in one's cause." -- Gandhi

I'll toss that into the on-going discussion on this thread for two reasons. The first is that we find the Bush administration is intolerant of people disagreeing with them .... especially when those disagreeing are willing to go public with the truth. With the outing of Valerie Plame, at the very least the administration showed a willingness to put a man's wife and children at increased risk of harm, because they were angry that he spoke the truth -- publicly.

In the CBS case, there is no real doubt that Young George skipped out on his duty to the National Guard. Yet because CBS was willing to report it, the administration was willing to crush people. They wanted to punish people -- to really make them suffer -- because they were willing to tell the truth when few others dared to. This lady's book is of value, and I admire her. I am also aware that Dan Rather knows some other things about the administration's previous attempts to dictate what the media could report. I use the word "dictate" purposefully. I am hoping that Rather will break his silence soon.

The second reason I use this Gandhi quote, is that we must take great care in not allowing ourselves to become tired along the path to democratic reform, and to allow the intolerance we recognize as disease in others -- such as the administration -- to take root here. As my good friend Nothing Without Hope says, we must appreciate "the power of dissent and truth-seeking."