Senate Should Have Left Ad Debate In Public Arena

When Muslims rioted after a couple of juvenile cartoons on Mohammed showed the prophet in a less-than-perfect light, much of the Western world was mad.

Freedom of speech is the bedrock of the West, or so the protesters were firmly told.
Yet, some people here in the Western world - even some charged with creating the laws that protect our freedom of speech - are breaking their own rules.

What really was a juvenile attempt by a known anti-war group to condemn the Iraq War has been so blown out of proportion that even Senate Republicans passed a resolution condemning it. We're talking of the recent MoveOn.org ad, which wonders if "General Petraeus should be called General Betray Us?"

Whoever came up with the bright idea of punning Petraeus' last name wasn't exactly being clever or creative. Perhaps, they went too far. But bad punning aside, the group had the right to buy an ad in the New York Times and express its view point. It's disturbing when lawmakers get involved in undermining rights protected by the Constitution.

It's not the first time Petraeus has been criticized for the war. He will continue to be, though hopefully in a more sophisticated way.

Cartoonists lampoon public figures all the time. President Bush has been the object of many a cartoonists' creativity. But those who think it's liberal media's bias against a Republican president are wrong. Cartoonists had the same field day with President Bill Clinton. It's the nature of the territory.
The ad was meant to drawn attention. It sure did.

If the Senate had not dabbled with the resolution business, the whole ad affair would have been an ironic slap on the face for MoveOn.org, considering that Republicans have turned it around for their own political mileage. The Senate should have kept it where it belongs -- in the public arena.

The country has the right to debate the Iraq War. The debate's more meaningful when the dialogue is intelligent, informative and civil. But it is not necessarily wrong if it's not.