"Either You Are With Us, or You Are With the Terrorists"

Those were the words of President George Bush in his post 9/11 speech to a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001. He was talking to the world's nations, telling them they were not going to be able to sit on the sidelines during the war on terror, but would have to make a choice to join America and oppose terror or support the terrorists. It was a powerful statement.

Today, in a USA Today op-ed, John Brennan, Deputy National Security Advisor, wrote this:

Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.

While the two statements may sound similar there is one big difference - Brennan is talking to you and me and telling us that criticism of the way the Obama administration chooses to deal with terrorism is the same as siding with the terrorists. Needless to say, lots of sites are excoriating Brennan today for that statement. One of the better analyses comes from Powerline.

Hot Air also has the famous screaming Hillary Clinton clip in which she reminded all of us that dissent is patriotic - at least it was at that time when Bush was in the White House.

This attempt to stifle dissent by Americans who see the Obama administration's actions as potentially harmful to America's security is an act of desperation on the part of a White House that simply doesn't know what it's doing.