To the editor:

Whenever the president and his people appear, they wear small American flags on their lapel. As if somehow this connotes they represent all Americans. That flag is not exclusive, rather it guarantees all Americans the equal right to their opinion. We may agree or disagree with war, prefer reason to bombs and bullets or possibly not to sacrifice lives of children in faraway lands for nebulous causes. That is what our flag represents. When people demonstrate, march, disagree or stand up in opposition to others’ opinions, they are just as American and patriotic as the president. They have an equal right to their opinions as he to his.

It is only when common people and dissent are silenced that democracy is in danger. History has proven presidents are men, not gods, whose mistakes and errors in judgment can well result in the genocide of generations. So for the Bush administration and his minions to cast aspersions on those who disagree with their policy, perhaps they should reread the Constitution they are swore to uphold, protect and defend. It is our Constitution, our country, and our flag too.

Curtis D. Bennett,

Lawrence