This letter is in response to a letter to the editor ("Columnist's choice of discussion awful" SN 3/26).

The person who wrote the letter complained about a columnist not "supporting his country, his troops and his president in times as important as they are right now." The columnist is later called "ultraliberal" and "unpatriotic."

The kicker here is when the writer of the letter says, "I hate people who use their First Amendment right to spout off about our nation in a time when there is no room for it."

What? In this country, the First Amendment right to freedom of speech is essential. The right to criticize government leaders and their actions is one of the things that allows a democratic free flow of ideas.

If you don't believe in the First Amendment and the right to criticize, especially during taxing times for your country, then you don't belong fighting for or supporting it. By saying that criticism of your government is unpatriotic, all you're doing is supporting the enemy you hate so much.

Carlyle Armstrong
Spanish sophomore