At Some Point, Don't We All Just Wake Up from Dreams Like This?
Saddam Hussein has decided that he's not going to come back to court, saying "I will not be in a court without justice. Go to hell, all you agents of America." This after he walked out of the court with his lawyers yesterday.
We're "not torturing" suspects around the world, as the CIA and DOD gather some major frequent flyer points. We've got the House renewing the Patriot Act, which the Bush justice department calls a "critical tool" in the efforts to "protect the American people." The Senate, for their part, approved an amended act that would make all but two provisions of it PERMANENT. That's right. Permanent.
So, while Saddam can decide day to day whether he feels like being judged for his crimes, Americans - you and I - are getting to watch our rights erode before our eyes. And don't worry about being notified if the government is searching for info on you. With a renewed Patriot Act, they still don't have to tell you. They get to keep the use of secret orders to look into our medical, financial and library records (oops, guess I should have returned that copy of Black Beauty in 2nd grade).
We're "not torturing" suspects around the world, as the CIA and DOD gather some major frequent flyer points. We've got the House renewing the Patriot Act, which the Bush justice department calls a "critical tool" in the efforts to "protect the American people." The Senate, for their part, approved an amended act that would make all but two provisions of it PERMANENT. That's right. Permanent.
So, while Saddam can decide day to day whether he feels like being judged for his crimes, Americans - you and I - are getting to watch our rights erode before our eyes. And don't worry about being notified if the government is searching for info on you. With a renewed Patriot Act, they still don't have to tell you. They get to keep the use of secret orders to look into our medical, financial and library records (oops, guess I should have returned that copy of Black Beauty in 2nd grade).
posted by Anonymous at 6:25 PM
2 Comments:
i share your outrage totally. i think we've way overreacted to the events of 9/11 in the preventative measures that have been taken in response. the thing is, though, there are undoubtedly a bunch of people out there who would like nothing better than to create some hugely fatal and disruptive terrorist act here, like exploding a suitcase nuke stolen from unsecured russian sites. they work in the shadows and take advantage of the kinds of protections a free society like this affords them. what, then, can we do to keep track of them, watch them, interdict them short of the kinds of draconian steps that the Patriot Act imposes on us? popessa, tell us what you would do, if anything, if you were sitting in the white house faced with this dilemma.
The same thing I say by living where I do and work where I work every day of my life. Living my life is worth more than cowering in a corner. And living my life is more than living with MY government looking over my shoulder. I'll take the risk of something happening over the reality of losing the liberties that being an American used to mean.
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