Posted on 12/29/2003 9:18:12 AM PST by NorCoGOP
MESA, Ariz. -- There appears to be a trend emerging in modern Western society. It is something that has been noticeable in the past, but is something that I think has become more prominent and disturbing in recent years. It is the habit we have developed of sacrificing personal freedom and convenience in favor of increased security, almost always in reaction to an isolated incident which we are afraid to treat as such.
Periodically, and with alarming frequency, something tragic will happen that will be greatly publicized. Perhaps this event injures or kills a person or many people; and, whether it is the media-driven American people demanding a change or elected officials eager to look like they are making a difference, precautions are put in place which restrict those very American people to the point that such an event recurring is nearly impossible.
The most dramatic of these events, with the most far-reaching internal effects, has been the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. I recall when our leaders assured us that the best way to fight the terrorists ourselves was to continue to live our lives normally and enjoy the freedoms that our enemies would wish to take away from us.
But our fear became a far greater opponent to our freedoms than any band of calculating psychopaths could ever achieve. And so things began to change.
As if to protect us from the inevitable eventuality of further hijackings, soldiers with machine guns took the place of obnoxious airport metal detector attendants. All luggage needed to be unpacked, studied, and repacked before transport on a passenger jet. My small Swiss army knife was instantly transformed from a personal convenience to a deadly weapon for terrorist use. Racial profiling became a very real law enforcement technique. And I can't get on a plane without taking my shoes off at the terminal.
Is this our normal life? Am I safer in my flight because my family and friends can't come and meet me at the gate? How has America gotten through 70 years of commercial flight without needing machine guns at every terminal? Are someone's socks really a threat to the lives of everybody on that plane?
As if this wasn't enough, our leaders drafted and almost unanimously passed the USA Patriot Act, 342 pages of knee-jerk legislation which has been adequately covered by this publication. For our own good, they removed any privacy that we think we have in favor of allowing the government to take any measures it deems necessary to discern any malicious intent any of us may harbor. I believe that all who study this act will be stunned at the constitutional rights the act takes away.
I don't want to be that safe. And an event occurring doesn't necessarily make it any more likely to occur in the future. Someone blowing up a plane doesn't mean that "people blow up planes now." I don't expect it. I am not afraid of it. And no amount of gun-toting servicemen or phone-tapping FBI agents will make me less afraid.
No amount of security is worth my freedoms, nor is it worth my ability to lead a comfortable, normal life. We have no alternative but to build our world to accommodate normal people. We can and should take reasonable precautions to protect ourselves from the dangerously insane. I think metal detectors are a great idea. But at some point we have done all that we can reasonably be expected to do and can only hope for the best.
For over 200 years, people have been giving their lives to obtain and protect necessary freedoms for the people of this country; because freedom is possibly the only commodity more precious than life itself.
Our only hope lies in ending the threat before they acquire the capability to do what they intend.
What do you think they intend to do? If they were to kill 3000 Americans every month America wouldn't collapse. We lose more than that in traffic accidents. Terrorism kills the same way an allergic reaction kills. The immune response is deadly than the allergen. The purpose of terrorism is to provoke terror and cause such a response that our economy and industry ceases to function because of all the government restrictions.
So long as you don't mind a .45 round in the forehead.
Why go from victim to criminal all in one fell-swoop?
Pardon, are you British?
As long as authority has been delegated, there have been cops who used excessive force and poor judgment.
Good point! The founders knew that too. That's why the constitution deliberately limits and defines the authority of government.
Flight attendants must, in the ordinary course of operations, get way too close to potentially-malevolent people for them to be armed safely
Assuming Al Qaida was allowed on in the first place. Our hypothetical airline would operate like Israel does -- they look for terrorists, not weapons. And wouldn't Al Qaida prefer to hijack an airplane where they knew everyone was disarmed instead of one where everyone could be armed?
There's a right to a job now?
You've got it backward. We have a right to do anything unless forbidden by law. The Federal Government has no right to do anything unless authorized by the Constitution.
I'd gladly give up that shooter of jack for a shooter to stop getting jacked.
Hug !
I just had a thought. The same liberals who for the previous 8 years (92-2000) regularly called for more gun control, less freedoms in regard to the second amendment because guns are so dangerous and evil, are now accusing President Bush of taking our rights away in the name of security and safety.
Even Ann Coulter has complained about being a victim of these airport mesomorphic goons. If any liberals are complaining it is because they are preprogrammed to oppose anything Bush does -- consistency is not a trait of liberals.
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