FREEDOM VS. SECURITY
Posted in political on February 14th, 2006
The morning of August 7, 2008 was like any other morning. People plodded to the daily grind of their jobs, radios blared out the usual nonsense mixed with news and weather. It was 10:00 A.M. E.S.T. on a Monday that seemed like any other Monday, no hint of trouble was to be found anywhere in the flowing city life of the good old U.S.A. Children played and dogs barked, but this was not to be an ordinary day.
The first hint of trouble was a short news bulletin; a bomb had gone off in Washington D.C. no details yet, no big deal. A short time later conflicting reports of a mushroom cloud started coming in, and that sick feeling that we all felt on September 11 started rising up in our stomach once again. Then the chilling questions started. Congress was in session, who all was there? The news reports are now pouring in, more questions erupt. Where is the President? The Vice President? Fox and CNN are both running film of the mushroom cloud and unbelievable panic and carnage. People are running over one another in an effort to escape the radiation, all the freeways are packed. We turn our attention to the Stock Market, which has now closed after a near immediate drop of 1,000 points. Fears of a collapse of U.S. treasury bonds has sent shock waves through the market. Overseas markets are reading the U.S. dollar at an all time low. The domino effect of dollar values lowering bond values and stock values has left the world in the very real fear that the U.S. dollar may completely collapse. Every nation in the world begins dumping U.S. bonds and dollars for something more stable, if stability is not brought soon the U.S. dollar will soon be worthless. A previously unknown to the public General, backed by the remaining U.S. Representatives tries desperately to convince us that all is under control, that plans for this have been made, but panic is now spreading, for no one knows how this really ends.
Sound frightening? It should. It can happen as easily as a well funded group of terrorists renting a house close to the White House and building a nuclear weapon in the basement. If you don’t believe it can happen, simply look up the “Firedragon Incident” on your computer. It takes some effort but I checked out a lot of reliable sources and I can assure you it did happen. A great piece you can refer to for more info is fellow blogger “The Corpuscle” at www.thecorpuscle.com/2004/11/here_there_be_d.html . It was an incident that was thought to have happened in New York. For one day our government shook with fear, so convinced that a nuclear bomb could be smuggled into the U.S. and ignited in New York they were already blaming each other. Scared yet? You should be.
Fear mongering H.C.? Yep. Scare tactics? You Bet. But before we can discuss this sensibly you all need to know what’s at stake. One nuclear weapon goes off in Washington D.C. while congress is in session, with the President in audience, or nearby, and life as you know it could change dramatically. Just look at what happened to Russia or Yugoslavia when their government fell. Within weeks people were fighting over food. This shit’s not a joke.
Now, what do we need to do to make sure this never happens? Give up all our rights? Live in fear? Put all our trust in G.W. not to abuse the power? No, but we do need to start having some heavy discussion on how we’re going to fight this thing. Ben Franklin (my personal hero) has a great quote on this matter; “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” (by the way protesters, please write it down so I don’t have to suffer your misquotes). Now I love Ben, but I doubt even he could have envisioned the threats we have today. President Bush has authorized and defended a program through the N.S.A. (National Security Agency) to spy on, I believe, anyone they feel necessary. I’m not a big fan of a Orwellian future, or the notion that if I’m not doing anything wrong I shouldn’t care. I’m not doing anything wrong when I take a shower but I don’t like the Idea of the government watching me. I really don’t believe giving up all your rights is going to make you safe, even people in prison, where you have almost no rights, get hurt and killed. However, there is logic in the idea that rights can be suspended in certain areas. In example; my right to bear arms being suspended while I’m in prison, or on a plane. Profiling has debatable results, but it still makes sense to use it to keep an eye on people who are more likely than others to commit a crime. If a guy who looks a lot like me and has a similar car has been breaking into houses in my neighborhood, and I get pulled over late at night and questioned, is that a violation of my rights? Maybe, but I should understand that facts, such as my description and car have led to the incident, not the officers prejudices. So it should be when you’re in an area that has the possibility of terrorist attack such as airports. If you fit the general profile of a terrorist and are searched, you should understand that is for all our safety, and not prejudice. Law enforcement needs to focus on likely suspects to do their job well.
Still, we do need to protect people’s rights. There should be safeguards such as oversight and sunset provisions (expiration date) attached to any legislation that increases government intrusion into our lives. That way, we have a chance to review it’s success and the way it’s being implemented before we renew it. That helps keep the power in the hands of the people, the way it should be. Government agencies are less likely to abuse a tool they’ve been given if there remains a threat of them losing it.
If it seems I’ve been a little back and forth on this issue, it’s because I am. The hippie side of me screams, “NO,NO, I am not giving up any rights , not for one minute!” but the conservative side of me knows that I may have to. Make your own decision on what’s the middle ground for you. The main message I have for you today is “beware”. Beware of giving away your rights, but also beware of the consequences if we’re not vigilant about protecting ourselves. This is a great example of the right thing being in the middle. H.C.
Posted in political on February 14th, 2006
The morning of August 7, 2008 was like any other morning. People plodded to the daily grind of their jobs, radios blared out the usual nonsense mixed with news and weather. It was 10:00 A.M. E.S.T. on a Monday that seemed like any other Monday, no hint of trouble was to be found anywhere in the flowing city life of the good old U.S.A. Children played and dogs barked, but this was not to be an ordinary day.
The first hint of trouble was a short news bulletin; a bomb had gone off in Washington D.C. no details yet, no big deal. A short time later conflicting reports of a mushroom cloud started coming in, and that sick feeling that we all felt on September 11 started rising up in our stomach once again. Then the chilling questions started. Congress was in session, who all was there? The news reports are now pouring in, more questions erupt. Where is the President? The Vice President? Fox and CNN are both running film of the mushroom cloud and unbelievable panic and carnage. People are running over one another in an effort to escape the radiation, all the freeways are packed. We turn our attention to the Stock Market, which has now closed after a near immediate drop of 1,000 points. Fears of a collapse of U.S. treasury bonds has sent shock waves through the market. Overseas markets are reading the U.S. dollar at an all time low. The domino effect of dollar values lowering bond values and stock values has left the world in the very real fear that the U.S. dollar may completely collapse. Every nation in the world begins dumping U.S. bonds and dollars for something more stable, if stability is not brought soon the U.S. dollar will soon be worthless. A previously unknown to the public General, backed by the remaining U.S. Representatives tries desperately to convince us that all is under control, that plans for this have been made, but panic is now spreading, for no one knows how this really ends.
Sound frightening? It should. It can happen as easily as a well funded group of terrorists renting a house close to the White House and building a nuclear weapon in the basement. If you don’t believe it can happen, simply look up the “Firedragon Incident” on your computer. It takes some effort but I checked out a lot of reliable sources and I can assure you it did happen. A great piece you can refer to for more info is fellow blogger “The Corpuscle” at www.thecorpuscle.com/2004/11/here_there_be_d.html . It was an incident that was thought to have happened in New York. For one day our government shook with fear, so convinced that a nuclear bomb could be smuggled into the U.S. and ignited in New York they were already blaming each other. Scared yet? You should be.
Fear mongering H.C.? Yep. Scare tactics? You Bet. But before we can discuss this sensibly you all need to know what’s at stake. One nuclear weapon goes off in Washington D.C. while congress is in session, with the President in audience, or nearby, and life as you know it could change dramatically. Just look at what happened to Russia or Yugoslavia when their government fell. Within weeks people were fighting over food. This shit’s not a joke.
Now, what do we need to do to make sure this never happens? Give up all our rights? Live in fear? Put all our trust in G.W. not to abuse the power? No, but we do need to start having some heavy discussion on how we’re going to fight this thing. Ben Franklin (my personal hero) has a great quote on this matter; “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety” (by the way protesters, please write it down so I don’t have to suffer your misquotes). Now I love Ben, but I doubt even he could have envisioned the threats we have today. President Bush has authorized and defended a program through the N.S.A. (National Security Agency) to spy on, I believe, anyone they feel necessary. I’m not a big fan of a Orwellian future, or the notion that if I’m not doing anything wrong I shouldn’t care. I’m not doing anything wrong when I take a shower but I don’t like the Idea of the government watching me. I really don’t believe giving up all your rights is going to make you safe, even people in prison, where you have almost no rights, get hurt and killed. However, there is logic in the idea that rights can be suspended in certain areas. In example; my right to bear arms being suspended while I’m in prison, or on a plane. Profiling has debatable results, but it still makes sense to use it to keep an eye on people who are more likely than others to commit a crime. If a guy who looks a lot like me and has a similar car has been breaking into houses in my neighborhood, and I get pulled over late at night and questioned, is that a violation of my rights? Maybe, but I should understand that facts, such as my description and car have led to the incident, not the officers prejudices. So it should be when you’re in an area that has the possibility of terrorist attack such as airports. If you fit the general profile of a terrorist and are searched, you should understand that is for all our safety, and not prejudice. Law enforcement needs to focus on likely suspects to do their job well.
Still, we do need to protect people’s rights. There should be safeguards such as oversight and sunset provisions (expiration date) attached to any legislation that increases government intrusion into our lives. That way, we have a chance to review it’s success and the way it’s being implemented before we renew it. That helps keep the power in the hands of the people, the way it should be. Government agencies are less likely to abuse a tool they’ve been given if there remains a threat of them losing it.
If it seems I’ve been a little back and forth on this issue, it’s because I am. The hippie side of me screams, “NO,NO, I am not giving up any rights , not for one minute!” but the conservative side of me knows that I may have to. Make your own decision on what’s the middle ground for you. The main message I have for you today is “beware”. Beware of giving away your rights, but also beware of the consequences if we’re not vigilant about protecting ourselves. This is a great example of the right thing being in the middle. H.C.
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