Posted on 09/21/2001 3:26:40 PM PDT by freedomnews
Through all the massive documentation on this department already, I can't seem to find Civil Defense-type programs mentioned or a well-armed citizenry.
Because a well-armed citizenry would be a nuisance to the "Homeland Defense Force", who might feel threatened if you have a gun as well. Just trust them, let the government defend you. C'mon, have a heart, give them just one more chance....They're from the government and they're here to help.
You want the Army put in charge of domestic law enforcement
You want a single federal agency to be in charge of domestic law enforcement, comrade?
as long as enough people remain frozen by fear our govt is free to do as it sees fit.
Was there part of that you didn't understand? Are you unable to grasp the distinction between focused criticism of particular measures and cynical shooting off at the mouth that stirs up resentment and distrust of the people whose job it is to defend us? Could it perhaps be that all your experience is with the latter?
Sorry for the late come-back. Server troubles...
I can see by your post that you really don't get it. I'm not a libertarian nor any political party you can relate or swear loyalty to. It seems you need the master/servant relationship to feel free. I understand.
If you think the consolidation of power occuring is a good thing, take another look in a year or two and tell me if all the new LAWS mean more freedom.
Defense of the homeland is the #1 job of the fedgov. Where were all the LAWS indicating this job before? Look-up the relationship of laws vs. freedom and tell me what increases as one diminishes.
Time and history proves you right my friend.
It's kind of funny that I quoted something you wrote before I even read it from you in the first place. We must be on the same wavelength, as they say. Some weird stuff going on. Click over to here to see what I believe is the real reason for our coming invasion of Afghanistan.
I repeat: then try Liberia, ca. 1989-1996. Law disappeared completely from view then. Or maybe Somalia - they had no government for nine years. So they must have been really, really free, right? Or maybe they just needed to distribute some more guns to the yeomanry. Yeah, that's it - more people on the streets with guns. That would have taken care of everything.
You want a fast track to the master-slave relationship, that's it. The absence of order and law is not the increase of freedom but merely an opportunity for sociopaths and warlords. That's what they have in Liberia and Somalia now - the arbitrary rule of strong men and war lords who saw their opportunity in the midst of chaos.
You have made repeated charges that amount to an accusation that the very existence of this agency to coordinate the government's response to a domestic attack on American lives is a deliberate assault on freedom. You have no evidence for that, or at least you do not provide it. You base it apparently purely on hatred of government.
Hatred of arbitrary power is the heart of all my political commitments. But we inevitably become the slaves of arbitrary power without a government which has the power and energy to execute laws and take defensive measures to protect its citizens from violence and chaos. You want to see liberty taken away - look into the ash of the WTC. Somehow I don't think Tom Ridge is going to take away my liberty more radically than that.
The terrorists hate our freedom, and therefore they hoped that they could cripple and discredit our government, and push our society into chaos. They attacked our government in order to destroy our freedom - get it? They knew something you don't seem to get, that government can indeed become an enemy of freedom, but that there can nonetheless only be freedom within the peace and order sustained and protected by government.
In this situation, it's just senseless to say: "I am for freedom and therefore I want to make it hard for the government to act." If the government is not able to act very decisively in any number of ways over the next few months and years, then even the imperfect American freedom we have now will become a memory.
Of course, government can also threaten freedom if it does its job the wrong way. I mentioned that I don't think the DOJ requests for new powers were safe or well-considered. I don't say and haven't ever said never to question. That's just slander.
But I do say that in the situation we're in now, if you can't also find a way to be for the government, and even loyal to the government, as well as (not instead of) critical of the government, you are not really going to be a friend of freedom. Because in the situation we are in, under the attack we are under, the government is now standing between us and a threat to freedom that that's just not on the chart with restrictions on concealed carry or excessive marginal tax rates (both of which I oppose).
Your political sphere of thinking is operating from partisan loyalty coloring your expressive "rhetoric". Didn't you hear our govt ask us to put aside partisan differences and come together as American? As an American, I fully support we the people and the govt we demand. Who could not? We also have a responsibility to send up warning flares if something doesn't smell right.
***They attacked our government in order to destroy our freedom. - Get it?***
They attacked we the people using violence as a tool to cause political and economic change in the western global community. Of all the cultural aspects that were attacked, our freedoms are one of them. We are warned(by our govt) that they will suffer in the coming days for security's sake. - Get it?
In the geopolitical scheme of things, these terrorists are inviting the western powers to war in central Asia and the Middle East. This will galvanize the ME to war with Israel. Not to mention the galvanization(the political process of "separating the opposites") of America. You should be observing this process right now. Widen your scope.
You yourself show great cynicism vainly try to place someone in a political package of pre-911 thinking. Everything is now changed forever - Remember?
When energy supplies are threatened, all bets are off. Energy and the freedoms we know now are directly proportional. Oil lubricates the the wheels of modern-day democracy.
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