"You are nothing more than an old prune-faced relic of the 60's"

I'm not making this up. In a USENET discussion, a guy wrapped himself in the flag and said that about me.... and by extension, about these folks:

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"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."
-- Teddy Roosevelt.

"Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels--men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion."
-- Dwight David Eisenhower, May 31, 1954

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Criticism in a time of war is essential to the maintenance of any kind of democratic government."
-- Robert Taft, Past Senate GOP Leader

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it."
-- Edward R. Murrow

"And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?"

"The man who loves his country...can never refuse to come forward when he finds that she is engaged in dangers which he has the means of warding off."

"The people are the ultimate guardians of their own liberties. In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy. Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone."
--Thomas Jefferson