Ashcroft shows his true colors

Boulder Camera ^ | 17 Nov 01 | Christopher Brauchli

[billybudd]

I agree that Ashcroft is asking for unconstitutional and dangerous government powers, but I don't much care for the insulting tone of this article.

[John Valentine]

I don't much like aggrandizement of power either, but this is war, and a war cannot be fought under constraints. We just need to be vigilant against abuses and force a retrun to constitutional norms as soon as is is safe to do so.

By the way, this is from the Boulder Camera. I expect to see the same editorial in the Ithaca Journal, a sister small-town socialist rag.

[Check6]

Yes but Boulder is, basically, a communist enclave.

[advocate10]

"Yes but Boulder is, basically, a communist enclave."

Like The People's Republik of Kalifornia?

[Texbob]

Have you not learned that Ashcroft is just a Baby killer Janet Reno Clone?

[dinodino]

Speak for yourself, pal. I'm not keen on giving up any of my rights. Once the government seizes a power it never gives it back.

As they say, "Give 'em an inch, they'll take an ell."

[John Valentine]

And once you have 500,000 tons of concrete and steel come down on your head, it's all a bit academic.

[dinodino]

A famous gentleman once said, "Give me Liberty, or give me Death." May the spirit of American freedom R.I.P.

[princess leah]

Yes, for Mr. Leahy intelligence would be "foreign" to him!

[ThreeOfSeven]

I don't much like aggrandizement of power either, but this is war, and a war cannot be fought under constraints. We just need to be vigilant against abuses and force a retrun to constitutional norms as soon as is is safe to do so.

The 'war on terrorism' will be permanent, just like the 'war on drugs' and the 'war on poverty'.

[Godfollow]

Come now, come now... don't be so mellow-dramatic... name for me the freedoms you have lost. The reality is, that no one from or during this administration, will come knocking at your door unless you pose a civil threat.

[dinodino]

"melodramatic"

I'm not so concerned about THIS Administration. The next Administration could be another Clinton. The point us, if you willingly hand a power over to the government, don't complain when it's used against you later.

[dinodino]

Maybe Mr. Robinson could change the name of this site to AuthoritarianRepublic. That seems to be the prevailing mindset.

[Luis Gonzalez]

And if we do not eliminate the group of terrorists that are out there, making plans to kill thousands of Americans, and destroy our economy, there may not be a "next administration".

You have bitched, and waxed on about lost freedoms, now I would like to hear your solution to stop terrorists from doing what was done on 9-11.

[Moby Grape]

If you are bothered by the insulting tone of this article than you have better get used to it. The third party gaggle, the Libertarians in particular, and the tin foil hat clubs all pronounce anyone outside their pup tents as statist, socialist, police state anti-liberty thugs. A real objective, fair minded bunch these.

[dinodino]

Damn right I'm bitching about lost freedoms. I don't want my kids to grow up in a country less free than the one in which I grew up. How about you?

I'm not sure there's anything one can do to stop individuals who are determined to cause acts of terror. You could try to create a police state (Singapore is a good example), which would *mostly* stop these acts, but you'd give up tons of freedoms in the process.

As far as the events of 9/11: how about really increased airport security? Why doesn't this sort of thing happen on El Al? Federalizing airport screeners is not the solution; all that'll do is create unionized workers who can't be fired. I read that Argenbright was the target of a Federal EEOC suit for not hiring enough and firing Muslims; if this is true, we can see how the government "helped" security in this case.

Have you flown since 9/11? The security is a joke, designed by the FAA merely to make passengers FEEL safer. I was in S.E. Asia on 9/11, and didn't notice any security changes when I returned to the U.S.--that's because all the airports I passed through already HAD good security. Only here in the U.S. is the security lax. Okay, well, maybe in Nigeria. ;)

[another1]

We just need to be vigilant against abuses

How can we do that? Every one of these new laws, executive orders and imperial proclamations shrouds the activities of governmental agencies in so much secrecy for the sake of our own "safety and protection" that there is no way we can know if abuses will occur, are occurring, or have occurred. They have covered their butts and tracks very, very well. We have the federal fox in the hen house swearing to God that nothing bad is happening, "trust me," and at the same time removing any mechanism for us to verify that.