wdlove said:
In this time in our history you can't be too careful. I wouldn't want to be that person that didn't follow through. It does seem that the airlines are having a lot of problems. There was the pilot that ask if there are any Christians aboard.
At this time in our history? Since when have things become inherently more dangerous than before?
We've had bombings, highjackings, serial killers, school shootings, mass murder, genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other varieties of nastiness ever since the technology has existed to allow it to happen. The prevelent difference is that we now live in a world where the media can be sure that everyone
knows this stuff is going on. It's not any newer, or any worse than it has been, you're just having it piped into your livingroom by people who are trying to make money off of your fear.
I hear constant rants from people here, where I live, about 'not letting the terrorists' win. Make a change in your life, spare a thought for their demands, and you've handed them exactly what they want. The game of a terorrist organization is one of alteration - whether economic, societal, or otherwise. They want people to change some aspect of their behavior, and if you do it, then they accomplish their goal in part. We, as Americans, have already handed al Qaeda a firm success in their attempt to change our lives. The Department of Homeland Security spreads low-grade annoyance and fear amongst the populace, and Republican congressmen have been ramrodding an agenda they've had wet dreams over for decades.
Just a few points to consider:
-The USA Patriot Act removed law enforcement restrictions on roving wiretaps, the sharing of information between the CIA and FBI, the way that FICA is handled, and standards of investigation and evidence gathering in domestic cases. Also included are
warrantless searched, which would seem to be more than a little against the 4th Ammendment.
-The military tribunals that aren't supposed to try civilians are being set up to do exactly that. Currently sitting in military prisons, including an offshore Navy brig, are three US civilians who are merely under
suspicion of having something to do with terrorism. One name, Jose Padilla, is moderately infamous for being thealleged 'dirty bomb' planner, though the government won't charge him in civilian court and is illegally holding him incommunicado. Another, Mike Hawash, has gathered a following of concerned civil libertarians on the internet. He's an Intel engineer that was hauled out of his home, in front of his children, and put into maximum security prison as a custody measure that states its purpose is to keep him as a 'material witness.' No public trial has been called for him to testify in.
-Kellog, Brown, and Root, the company that does the Army's logistical support in Iraq, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the former Cheney-directed Halliburton. In addition to this fact, he and many of the Republicans who are currently in power are members of a policy group formed during the Clinton Administration. To name a few: Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams, Zalmay Kalizad, Donald Rumsfeld, and Stephen Rosen. You might recognize two of those as being Secretary and Assitant-Secretary of the Department of Defense, which has been pushing this war.
What we
ought to be worried about is the state of our own country, not what someone outside may or may not be doing. We are sliding down into a culture that is completely against the ideals of the French philosophes that inspired the creators of our nation. "Liberete, egalite, fraternite," they would say - liberty, equality, and brotherhood. We're losing liberty to the whims of an incresingly invasive federal government, losing equality to a more powerful and vocal social conservative movement, and, well... Brotherhood's a hard one. Have you seen how famillies fight?
Do us all a favor. No matter what way you vote, who you choose to support, or what causes you believe in... Read up and be informed, and
vote! Don't be content to let your life be decided for you by Washington, because that's how tyrranies are made. Don't let our freedom and rights become secondary to fear, because you're as statisically likely to die by lightning strike as you are to be involved in a terrorist incident. What's next, a congressional ban on thuderstorms for being too French?
