Its sort of funny how we forget certain things, but then they come back to us late at night.

That happened to me last week. I was having a really hard time sleeping.  I kept waking up thinking about those insane statements about carpet bombing Syria, and about killing the families of suspected terrorists.

I kept on jerking awake as my brain recalled phrases like “I’d bomb the shit out of them”.  I kept rolling over as I imagined my country deliberately killing families.

I woke up, cranky and irritable.  I kept thinking about how horrified I am at the bellicosity of the Republican candidates.  I kept thinking about World War Three. I kept picturing the Republican Candidates screaming about the fact that our country is “broken” and “inept”.  I kept remembering them as they commented on our President. The one who they described as “feckless” and “weak” and “dysfunctional”.

And all of a sudden, through my anxious and exhausted state, I remembered what happened a few years ago when it was MY side of the spectrum complaining about the Administration.  I remember when my fellow progressives called George Dubya Bush “inept” and “unintelligent” and “corrupt”.

I remember that my fellow progressives and I were met with the angry outcry, “You hate America!!!! If you don’t like the way things are done, LEAVE!!!!”

I was told after more than one blog post or tweet or comment that I should “Get out if you don’t like it!”

So here we are, a few years after that gung-ho “We love America” rant, faced with an entire spectrum of Republican Candidates for President who think that it is perfectly acceptable to say that  our government has failed, that our country is inept, that our military has failed, that our homeland security department has totally let us down.

According to these……”leaders”…..we are on the brink of total annihilation.  Our government and our military are completely useless and we’re going to be murdered in our beds at any moment.

But I was also struck by the fact that no one anywhere is telling those critics of our country to “Get out if you don’t love America!!!!”

The distinction is, to me, pretty clear.  One side believes that to love America is to blindly support the government, as long as it is a conservative, Republican government.

The other side believes that we need to continue to reshape and change our government to make it safe and profitable to live here.

If you disagree with me, answer me on this one question.  Why is acceptable to malign and criticize the government as long as you disagree with it, but if anyone criticizes the government with which you agree, then those people should “Get the hell out”?