This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I'm writing in response to Geraldine Livingston's letter on May 13, titled "If you don't like it here, leave." I simply wished to point out the logical flaw in Livingston's argument as an example of ergo decedo. This fallacy is where one attempts to attack their opponent as being unfavorable to the values of a particular group or accuse them of being treasonous.

There are very few who doubt Americans, as a whole, are a patriotic people, regardless of our political bent. We believe, rightly so, that our nation is a great nation. It is not without its faults and there is work to be done to make it better. But as a whole, we are a strong people with a powerful will.

But one should never confuse criticism of a standing president with a lack of patriotism.

Theodore Roosevelt said, "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country."

If we criticize our elected president because of his actions, that is our right and our duty as Americans because they are not supposed to be held to a single ideal of a political philosophy. They are supposed to be held to the American ideal. That being the standing personification of what it means to be a citizen of our great nation.

Terrance Schaefer

Salt Lake City