Wow. This board gets political! I had no idea. I guess I'll throw in my depreciated .02 here, even though I'm pretty certain many will disagree with me.
Does it suck that we have all taken a hit to our personal freedoms? Yes. But know your history. There are many examples of far more severe yet temporary curbs on personal freedom in the US during times of war. Would anyone like to argue that we are not at war?
Now, why are we at war? Whose fault was 9-11? If your answer is anything other than radical Islamist terrorists murdering 3000 civilians on 9-11, I hope you take some thought filled time to reconsider your opinion.
Did our Government fail us on 9-11. Yes. But even more, we all failed us. If you can point a finger at any American, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and blame them for dropping the ball pre 9-11, I hope you are looking in the mirror while you do it. We have all failed our own democracy, by not participating (low voter turnout), not paying attention (like good little consumers), and not wanting to pay financially for our freedom and security (massive budget cuts in the 90's that MOST AMERICANS wanted as a peace dividend after the cold war ended). I am convinced that is one of several main reasons why we were vulnerable.
I am often falsely labeled a "conservative". Not too many "conservatives" I know are agnostic, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and anti-Drug War. But when I look for someone to blame 9-11 on, just after the radical Islamist terrorists, I blame all of us, including Clinton, and Bush, and millions of other complacent sleeping Americans.
But you know what? When I see the obvious loss of a great big chunk of our personal freedoms, I am not moved to think that Bush, a fellow American that I often disagree with, is to blame. As you might have picked up on, I blame the people that have been making war on us for decades.
It seems to me that the only way we will ever regain our freedoms, and avoid losing more, is to undeniably defeat our enemies (oh yeah, and end the Democrat, Republican, complacent American sponsored decades long drug war). When that goal is accomplished, it will be impossible for the US Gov't to sustain curbs on our freedoms. I have faith that the spirit, strength and wisdom of the people of this nation will make this a reality. If on the other hand, we look to appease and co-exist with terrorists that have openly declared, and demonstrated a tremendous capacity to murder us, then we will never be free again.
But that is just my .02
Does it suck that we have all taken a hit to our personal freedoms? Yes. But know your history. There are many examples of far more severe yet temporary curbs on personal freedom in the US during times of war. Would anyone like to argue that we are not at war?
Now, why are we at war? Whose fault was 9-11? If your answer is anything other than radical Islamist terrorists murdering 3000 civilians on 9-11, I hope you take some thought filled time to reconsider your opinion.
Did our Government fail us on 9-11. Yes. But even more, we all failed us. If you can point a finger at any American, Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and blame them for dropping the ball pre 9-11, I hope you are looking in the mirror while you do it. We have all failed our own democracy, by not participating (low voter turnout), not paying attention (like good little consumers), and not wanting to pay financially for our freedom and security (massive budget cuts in the 90's that MOST AMERICANS wanted as a peace dividend after the cold war ended). I am convinced that is one of several main reasons why we were vulnerable.
I am often falsely labeled a "conservative". Not too many "conservatives" I know are agnostic, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and anti-Drug War. But when I look for someone to blame 9-11 on, just after the radical Islamist terrorists, I blame all of us, including Clinton, and Bush, and millions of other complacent sleeping Americans.
But you know what? When I see the obvious loss of a great big chunk of our personal freedoms, I am not moved to think that Bush, a fellow American that I often disagree with, is to blame. As you might have picked up on, I blame the people that have been making war on us for decades.
It seems to me that the only way we will ever regain our freedoms, and avoid losing more, is to undeniably defeat our enemies (oh yeah, and end the Democrat, Republican, complacent American sponsored decades long drug war). When that goal is accomplished, it will be impossible for the US Gov't to sustain curbs on our freedoms. I have faith that the spirit, strength and wisdom of the people of this nation will make this a reality. If on the other hand, we look to appease and co-exist with terrorists that have openly declared, and demonstrated a tremendous capacity to murder us, then we will never be free again.
But that is just my .02