Letter: Letter had basis in freedom of speech

Re: “Fifth columnists undermine the republic,” Mailbag, Oct. 30. Emzy Veazy’s letter implying that a previous letter writer, Alfred Aboulsaad (“Republican response to ACA is offensive,” Mailbag, Oct. 26) is anti-American and akin to a subversive for defending the positions taken by Democrats is pretty outrageous and scary.

For Mr. Veazy’s information, we have something called freedom of speech in this country and he should read our Constitution and try to understand what it actually means and that it applies to all Americans.

What Mr. Veazy claims is homegrown patriotism is really homegrown hatred. My parents, both loyal American citizens, were incarcerated in an internment camp by “patriotic Americans” such as Mr. Veazy.

I know something about the disease of prejudice and hatred. I am a patriotic American, born and raised in California, and I completely reject Mr. Veazy’s philosophy on its face.

Further, Mr. Veazy’s brand of right-wing “patriotism” has been soundly rejected by most Americans, as has his Republican Grand Old Party. If anyone is guilty of usurping our American Republic, it is Mr. Veazy and his ilk who are attempting to undermine the president’s efforts to help all Americans.

If Mr. Veazy is going to insinuate that someone is a member of a fifth column, he should understand what that means. A fifth columnist is someone who is a subversive and secretly supports an enemy. That is a pretty serious accusation. Mr. Aboulsaad is merely exercising his freedom of speech as an American in a 21st-century America, not some imaginary 18th- or 19th-century country that Mr. Veazy would like us to live in.

Thomas Saito
Burbank