A Sept. 10 State of Mind

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | January 11, 2006 | By Cinnamon Stillwell

[johnny7]

Ever since Sept. 11, critics have been insisting that the U.S. government remedy the blind spots that led to the attacks.  That was the ostensible purpose of the Sept. 11 commission and most of its recommendations did indeed conform to such goals. Yet every effort to "connect the dots" since has been met with opposition by the very same critics. The recent wiretapping controversy is a case in point.

Last month, the New York Times broke the story that the National Security Agency has been listening in on the electronic communications of al Qaeda operatives in America. And the debate has been raging ever since. The problem is, the story turns out not to have been quite the shocker the Times intended.

[devolve]

[SmithL]

Seen the light Ping - And a reminder of Cinnamon's conversion to conservatism:

OPINION: The Making Of A 9/11 Republican
- Cinnamon Stillwell
Thursday, February 24, 2005

As one of a handful of Bay Area conservative columnists, I'm no stranger to pushing buttons. Indeed, I welcome feedback from readers, whether positive or negative. I find the interplay stimulating, but I am often bemused by the stereotypical assumptions made by my critics on the left. It's not enough to simply disagree with my views; I have to be twisted into a conservative caricature that apparently makes opponents feel superior. They seem not to have considered that it's possible to put forward different approaches to various societal problems and not be the devil incarnate.

But in some ways I understand where this perspective comes from, because I once shared it. I was raised in liberal Marin County, and my first name (which garners more comments than anything else) is a direct product of the hippie generation. Growing up, I bought into the prevailing liberal wisdom of my surroundings because I didn't know anything else. I wrote off all Republicans as ignorant, intolerant yahoos. It didn't matter that I knew none personally; it was simply de rigueur to look down on such people. The fact that I was being a bigot never occurred to me, because I was certain that I inhabited the moral high ground.

Having been indoctrinated in the postcolonialist, self-loathing school of multiculturalism, I thought America was the root of all evil in the world. Its democratic form of government and capitalist economic system was nothing more than a machine in which citizens were forced to be cogs. I put aside the nagging question of why so many people all over the world risk their lives to come to the United States. Freedom of speech, religious freedom, women's rights, gay rights (yes, even without same-sex marriage), social and economic mobility, relative racial harmony and democracy itself were all taken for granted in my narrow, insulated world view.

So, what happened to change all that? In a nutshell, 9/11. . . .

[GSWarrior]

Another winner from CS.

[johnny7]

But no relation to 'Vinegar Joe'.

[Drango]

Cinnamon rocks