The problem is that if we lose this battle and the Muslims take over, you're not going to have any liberties at all. And on top of that, no music, no art, no technology.
I think we have to be vigilant for our liberties now, but we can't forget that this is a war, declared on us by the other side, and that wartime is a different from other times.
Agreed. This is a war, and certainly in wartime some extraodinary measures must be taken. This is a bit different though: Under what conditions do we declare victory? At least for the Japanese in the internment camps during WWII, there was a scenario where their rights would be restored: when Japan was defeated. Is the war on terror a war with an end? Unseating the Taliban did not end terrorism. Defeating Iraq didn't do it. It's not a war against Islamofascist terror, either, so what about the ELF? Or the Basques? If we get a lefist administration, will they declare Operation Rescue a terror organization? Before I'm willing to sacrifice my freedom for a wartime effort, I think I'm within my rights to know in what scenario my rights will be restored. When most people talk about these sorts of infringements on our rights (for example, being allowed to take pictures of tunnels) I hear them talking about two periods of time: pre 9-11 and post 9-11. For example: "In a post 9-11 US, it is dangerous to allow people to have pictures of landmarks because they could use them in planning a terror attack". I do not hear people saying "Until we have defeated terror, it is dangerous...". That way of thinking frightens me.