art
books
community
film
music
politics
stories
travel
weird
things
|
||||
|
dangerbunny does texas |
||||
|
Freedom vs. Security
Ohmigod, I am gonna defend Dub. "President" Bush. I'm gonna be sick.
OK, I am not going to defend Dub as much as I am those in charge, in general, over many administrations. And if I am defending this group of selfish, self-interested, bribable fools, you should know I am being earnest. Facts have shown that the Bush and his Krew knew that there was a possibility that the U.S. would be attacked via U.S. passenger planes well before the September 11 attacks occurred. Unfortunately, the U.S. commonly receives threats on our national security. Now, I won't go into the whys of how these happen. The U.S. is an enviable nation, just as much as it can be an embarrassment. To keep up with every current threat and every opportunist willing to wreak havoc is enough to keep the CIA busy for a century or two.
Consider how difficult it is to defend against terrorists.
Even if the U.S. wanted to lock up every "known"threat, there
are many for every
one that is known. If you disagree, I can simply point to the French Resistance
during WWII. Even on D-Day, June 6, 1944 (the most incredible secret in
the history of mankind), the Allies were still able to contact the Resistance
easily, and much of D-Day's success can be directly attributable to communication
with the French. Considering the Nazis were willing to lock up anybody
who was non-Aryan, it's a safe bet they were just about as totalitarian
as possible. Still, the Resistance came through when necessary. Hence,
no matter what kind of steps we take, no matter how tough and strict our
measures to eliminate danger for the majority of citizens from the minority
of perceived wackos, this example demonstrates that task is nearly impossible.
Moreover, for a country as large as the U.S., we are asking far too much to expect guaranteed safety, every day, all the time. Therefore, for every freedom we desire, speech, press, assembly, etc., we have to be prepared to lose a small part of our safety. Our goals, then, are two-fold. First, we need to work to make this country truly great, to practice what we preach, and to do what we can for the world rather than try to run it with an iron fist. Secondly, we have to fight the knee-jerk tendency to overreact in these situations by placing blame on the intelligence communities, which may lead to allowing these agencies to gain that much more intrusive control over our lives. Anything less would be a step towards sacrificing the freedoms upon which our county is based. Personally, these are freedoms so necessary to me that I am prepared to sacrifice a portion of my security to be able to express my views and to lead a life relatively unencumbered by totalitarian-like precautionary measures.
please send comments to: BFD@hotmail.com
