Dissent was never unpatriotic then or now. What is not being discussed is an older American social standard that one does not openly criticize a sitting President during wartime, or war time activities. That standard commenced serious erosion during the Johnson Administration, and has never really ever returned. Some Americans have tried to return to that standard ... hence why Clinton was not critized much for his war in Bosnia. But, I imagine that if we were to once again be faced with the potential to be defeated and subjugated by a foreign power, we might suddenly find it within ourselves to contain our disagreements, and work together to defeat the enemy, as my parents did in WWII.
No one stopped anyone from being critical during the Bush term ... and no one is being stopped from being critical in the Obama term. It is all a tempest in a teapot.