Look, y'all, this is getting a tad out of hand. Some nimrod had the gall to call me a "sheep" last night because I addressed such paranoia by bringing up a fair number of issues that this person hadn't thought of or chose to ignore. I'll admit that pissed me off, 'cause anyone who knows me in the slightest would laugh at such a description.
I do NOT like the Federal Government..........pretty much at all. I won't rehash the stale arguments we know to death around here (too damned big; un-Constitutional, etc., etc.). I don't like it when the Fed grows by even one person, let alone the "federalization" of all of those drooling airport security personnel. I like my privacy. I've been successfully homeschooling for nearly 18 years, LONG before it became fashionable, precisely because I didn't trust government and didn't feel that what I do was any of their damned business (in this example, that translated to avoiding that stupid trap of "checking in" or "registering" with the local school board / State). I'm independent as all hell, and I don't want the Feds knowing what I buy, what I make, what I eat, where I bank, or how many times per day I break wind.
I'm also an American.........and we're at war.
Too go**amned many here forget that.
You want security, you want to be protected. You don't want terrorists running around our country wreaking havoc. You want your families to be safe. You don't want any more September 11ths.
You also want all of this in the most free country on earth; a country wherein anyone can wander about unfettered, invisible.
You want it all...........but you sure as all hell don't seem willing to pay the price to see that you get it.
I hear and read all sorts of "experts" here on FR, trumpeting and chest-thumping about the "erosion of" or "assault upon" our rights as citizens. Oh really? What, exactly, do you propose? YOU tell ME exactly how to fight what we're fighting, whom we're fighting, where we're fighting 'em (HINT: it's right here in our backyard) with such measures. TELL ME, experts.
You sumbitch Bush's moves..........fine. Put up an alternative. I'm sure they'd love to hear it / read it. Go ahead; it's no secret that the White House and most members of Congress (or their staffs) frequent this Web site. Tell me just exactly what must be done to identify, track, and capture these bastards in such an environment. Don't even think about telling me how we need to track down all "illegal aliens", because that has been shot down twenty ways from Sunday (one example: We don't have a CLUE where the sumbitches are; so much for our "efficient" INS; so much for that wondrously transparent and mindless idea).
Talk to your parents and grandparents about WWII and what citizens had to "put up with" back here at home to fight enemies half a world away.
I don't like it, but we're at war and as a veteran, I know that war can be hugely "uncomfortable". Your fear is that these "powers" will continue past the time this "war" is declared over in some way??? Then get off your asses and elect people who will help ensure that these laws are sticken from the books when no longer needed, even if the "drop dead clauses" are ignored by subsequent administrations.
I got called a "sheep" for feeling this way...........well, I'll clue y'all: I consider a "sheep" to be someone who's too go**amned afraid to even think that they can have a say in their government and would rather hide behind a keyboard and insult those of us who know better.
When this is over we will beat our swords back in to plowshares.
I didn't see your other posts, but I sure agree with this one. Good Job. Well Said!
As I recall, we fought a war against fascism in WWII (funny how things work out, isn't it?)
One thing I DON'T propose is giving up ANY Liberties...
This Nation was inspired by God...and ALL of our Rights come from God.
It IS NOT any governments job to restrict those rights.
redrock
My parents remember the WWII era quite well. My mom's memory is that everyone -- including her -- was patriotic, and that being patriotic meant supporting the government and not asking rude questions. My father was a front-line infantryman in WWII, and perhaps for that reason, and the fact that he grew up in Louisiana, he's always been less susceptible to the idea that government means well and can be trusted.
I do not like the fact that many of the actions being taken now are purely cosmetic, and are intended only to send the message that "something is being done". I do not like the fact that the government can take 1,000 men off the streets, holding them indefinitely without charge or trial, telling all who ask about them to get lost. I particularly do not like the new steps toward a police state culture, in which citizens are not just urged to be vigilant, but required to become spies and informers. It would be nice to think such measures can be temporary and limited, but recent history suggests the opposite, and shows that advances in RICO, asset forfeiture, zero tolerance, and the War on Drugs can be and continue to be abused by transforming us all into criminals at the government's whim. The easy tolerance for abortion, human embryo experimentation, and creeping euthanasia are solidifying the unspoken, unthinking consensus that each of us lives -- or dies -- not by virtue of unalienable Right, but because of someone else's Choice.
The advantages of such powers are not lost on the State. To be perfectly blunt, I expect people like you and me shortly to be an embattled minority in this country, with whatever remains of democracy in the hands of the stupid, the dependent, and those bent on social control and a re-engineering of the human condition. I see myself fighting a rearguard action, and am not interested in accelerating the speed of surrender.
I do have one question, however. If, under this extended law someone is found to be laundering money, but they are no threat to national security, will they still be indicted? Or is this law restricted to terrorist crimes only?
Your link to the Congressional Declaration Of War, please?
Bush saying he declares War Against Terrorism carries as much constitutional weight as me saying I declare War Against My Expanding Waistline, except he gets to send planes and bombs and troops out there, outside of his Constitutional Authority, and I have to make do with grilled chicken.
Interesting that you don't trust 'em with anything else, except the full might of our armed forces. Don't quite know what to make of that...
It's an example of the worst kind of lawmaking that is ripe for extreme abuse and the sooner it's cut to shreds the better.
I know you addressed this in your post, but it IS without doubt very unconstitutional.
More like a bighorn ram! Charge!