We heard that refrain a lot during the eight years George W. Bush was president. Leftists marching in parades were patriotic when they carried banners stating: “We support the troops when they shoot their officers.” Code Pink and their cohorts were patriots when they blocked the entrance of the Marine Corps recruiting office in Berkeley, Calif.

Today, a Democrat is in the White House and dissent’s not so welcome anymore.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan took to the pages of USA Today to call into question the patriotism of the majority of Americans who think it was a mistake to give the underwear bomber constitutional rights instead of treating him as an enemy combatant.

Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda.

So, apparently with the new administration, you’re either with them, or with the terrorists.

The Obama administration’s handling of the underwear bomber has been inept at best. For weeks after the would-be bomber was read his rights we heard from numerous administration officials – most notably press secretary Robert Gibbs – that intelligence officials got all the information they needed in that first 50 minute interview.

Then, last week we get word that the bomber is talking again because his family has intervened and convinced him to spill the beans. Now we’re getting valuable information they tell us. But what actionable intelligence was lost in the 4-5 weeks he wasn’t talking? We may never know.

This whole fiasco actually got the famously lukewarm USA Today editorial page to a boil.

Ever since the botched Christmas Day plot to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner, the Obama administration's national security officials have struggled to assure the public that they know exactly what they're doing.

So far, they're achieving the opposite, and they're needlessly adding some jitters in the process:

-- CIA Director Leon Panetta and other top officials agreed last week that an attack by al-Qaeda is likely in the next three to six months. The warning is bound to frighten the public, with no obvious benefit beyond the ability to say "I told you so."

-- Top administration officials revealed last week that bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was again cooperating with authorities. Great. But the news pretty much negates earlier claims that no intelligence was lost when Abdulmutallab was prematurely read his rights.

-- In Senate testimony, National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair had a "Duh!" moment as he hit his forehead and acknowledged that authorities fumbled the initial questioning of Abdulmutallab by failing to call in the high-value interrogation group, which was created to question terrorism suspects. Refreshingly candid, yes, but not a statement that inspires confidence. Especially when the same day, at another Senate hearing, FBI Director Robert Mueller testified that the high-value unit was still in its "formation stages" and that "there was no time" to get it to Detroit.

All of this follows the string of blunders that allowed Abdulmutallab to carry explosives onto a U.S.- bound plane in the first place. The chaos that followed his arrest now looks just as bad.

I encourage you to read the whole thing. It’s not what USA Today typically publishes.

The bottom line is this: Foreign terrorists who come to this country only to commit murder do not deserve the full panoply of rights we give to common criminals. They most certainly do not have the right to remain silent about their own plans or the plans of others who wish us harm.