That is hogwash, and you know it. During the Vietnam war, we were losing thousands of soldiers, and 95% of our media were OPENLY against our government. During WWII, there was an Isolationist party that did not want us in the European war, and no paper was closed. Communists professors openly criticized our government and were never arrested.
Oddly enough, I don't recall massive fighting 20 miles from Washington. Surely even you don't think the US government was fighting for its life in Vietnam.
and 95% of our media were OPENLY against our government.
Reasonably accurate, though hyperbolic.
During WWII, there was an Isolationist party that did not want us in the European war, and no paper was closed.
Nope, the isolationists were not a Party, they were a movement, and they disappeared on December 7. They had already been dwindling for some time before that.
Communists professors openly criticized our government and were never arrested.
Now there's some hogwash for you. The minute Hitler invaded USSR, some months before Pearl Harbor, the Commies became the biggest advocates of the US entering the War.
People were not arrested and jailed for criticizing Lincoln. They were arrested and jailed for the crime of sedition or other applicable crimes.
I noticed you managed to leave out WWI, when people were indeed jailed for criticizine the president or the government, and with much less justification than in the 1860s. WWI was no life and death struggle for the US.