This time, some Republicans have gone too far.

We know Republicans are willing to politicize the Sept. 11 attacks. Karl Rove explicitly told them to do so in the 2002 elections, and the Republicans even sold a Sept. 11 picture of President Bush to raise money. But now the Bush attack machine has crossed the line again. The Republican National Convention has released an advertisement that questions the commitment of Democratic candidates to keeping America secure.

All Democrats — and most American people, regardless of political affiliation or opinion — are demanding honest answers from Bush on Iraq, on the lies in the State of the Union address and on why the White House leaked the identity of a CIA operative. But instead of leveling with the American people, some Republicans are using a cheap political ploy to try and change the subject, accusing Democrats of “attacking the president for attacking the terrorists.”

Bush and other Republicans dream about a country with no debate and no dissent, where they are free to push their extremist agenda — with no one standing up to stop them. Between now and November 2004, they will question your patriotism again and again; they’ll say if you don’t support Bush, then you don’t support our troops and you don’t want to keep America safe.

Debate and dissent are central to American history, politics and government … that’s why there are several provisions in current American law allowing people to say what they want without fear of punishment.

Another four years under Bush and the Republicans is almost unimaginable, and I want them gone by 2005.

Adam Smargon

Coconut Creek, Fla.