Give me one specific example of where your "freedom" (or that of a family memeber) has been compromised due to the Bush administration in the last 4 years.
Beyond Bush's exploitation of terrorist events to diminish our freedom, I just don't trust the man. Both elections seemed shady. Apparent fraud in one state (Governor Jeb Bush's Florida) again, this time with electronic voting machines. There were reported cases of multiple attempts to vote for Kerry but the machine insisted on a vote for Bush.
I believe we can expect continued erosion of freedom and increased corruption in his pursuit of power.
Give me one specific example of where your "freedom" (or that of a family memeber) has been compromised due to the Bush administration in the last 4 years.
I would ask you to kindly review the actions, activities, and propensities of John Ashcroft during his time as Attorney General.
Then I would ask you to talk to my cousin Shaya, a Sephardic Jew of Moroccan ancestry, who despite being American born, despite having an American passport, and despite his wife(American born European ancestry) and 5 children being WITH him at the time, AND DESPITE HIS HAVING PASSED THE AIRPORT SECURITY SCREENINGS, was forcibly removed from a commercial airliner prior to takeoff. Still don't know why. It was almost two weeks before he was released with not even an apology, and he is still in therapy because of his ordeal.
And last but not least, I would ask you to go to the library, check out a copy of the Communist Manifesto, or the Anarchist's Cookbook and see how quickly you are visited by Ashcrofts Crusaders and put on a list of seditious radicals.
How can otherwise intelligent and insightful people be so blind to the corruption and rampant hubris of this pestilent administration is the question *I* would like answered.
-- Modified on 11/4/2004 7:26:26 AM
You example is a terrific one. As I posted earlier, I have many Arab friends, a few of whom have had some hassles (and worse) over the last three years.
We unquestionably have to get security fine tuned. These "false positives" are getting intolerable. But, lets remember, just as a pharmaceutical firm fine tunes production to balance the hassle or false positives with the debacle of false negatives (in this case, 9/11), so must TSA. Add the inevitable bi-partisan government bureaucracy to the mix, and things move even slower.
I suspect your incident is an intolerable mistake in information and judgment and not prejudice against people of middle eastern or north african descent not Ashcroft's desire to impinge upon your law-abiding cousin's right to travel.
I agree that Ashcroft is a bit of a lunatic, but I also see perceive alot of those who despise him as a quite paranoid, with comparisons to Communism and the Nazis. Face it: Fighting crime/terrorism does require more intelligence. More intelligence requires more information about inhabitants. More information can be used to the detriment of freedom but doesn't do so per se. Racial profiling brings up many ethical issues but I'm not sure I see a feasbile alternative that is nearly as effective.
Remember, the constitution DOES allow the government to impinge upon the rights of citizens if there is compelling reason to do so. These are huge gray areas prone to over-simplification du jour.
I would say those dying in Iraq due to this administrations poor planning have had their ``FREEDOM'' infringed upon.
Whether or not you feel this war is justified, are you impressed with its handling ? Do you care ?
I didn't raise the issue as to whether the war is right. I supported the war but I'm NOT happy with the way it is being executed. I unquestionably care. However, while I know you will attempt to tie the war and freedom together into some grand "neocon" scheme, the war is a totally different issue than privacy and freedom.
It may be a totally different issue for US, being here, but I still say the wars ``execution'' has infringed on the freedom of OTHERs (it is not hard to imagine people dying or peoples service involuntarily extended as a direct result of the poor handling of the war).
To Answer your question directly. No, not me personally.
And I didn't say anything about the war being a ``grand neocon scheme'' - I simply asked if you believe it had been poorly planned by the Bush administration (and if you cared, but this is my own hang-up, since I don't see how such a war and freedoms are seperate issues).
I think I answered your questions about the war and I think we'd probably agree on alot of topics in that regard.
IMHO, using troops having their service extended is a very very weak example of impinging upon their freedom. I completely sympathize with our troops and mourn the casualties. However,
1. These people were free to enter and exit the active duty or reserves prior to the war.
2. These people entered the reserves or active duty with the implicit understanding that if the country were to go to war, they might be deployed. There were never any guarantees that it would be quick, safe, or even the right thing to do. They also knew that it could involve extended service. They were free to decline the invitation for fear that a Vietnam-like situation, albeit unlikely, was entirely possible.
I guess, in a way, when you join the armed forces, you make a conscious choice to subordinate your freedom for what the government thinks is the good of the country (and a decent salary, good training, and great benefits). Anyone who enlists knows that governments make mistakes in wars, some of which are huge, and they know they will bear the burden of them. Its called service, not slavery.
Typical BS my "friend"-
Is the war part of the war on Terror? If it is- theh what a fuck up. If it is NOT- then what was it but a weird UNNEEDED adventure.
The soldiery of this country operate under a implied agreement that we do not engage in Empire building. They are NOT like the Legion, professional soldiers who fight for whoever is in power- they fight for the people and are to be used only in pursuit of the people's will. It's the Powell doctrine- now blown apart by the present admin.
Break this compact and you start to see morale fail- witnes Abu Ghraib.
Now if we could onl get them to frag their CinC....
Part of your enlistment contract reads "your now considered goverment property and as such you are expendable" I am paraphrasing as when i signed up it was 20 years ago. But I remember the general tone of the phrase. As for fragging the CINC its a left wing fantasy, dream on I guess.
With victory in hand and a mandate from the voters who turned out to support him get ready for tax relief. Of course its only going to apply to people who pay taxes.
Iraq is hardly empire building. And, if this "implied contract" that soldiers don't engage in empire building is true, how did we end up with all those strategically placed islands in the Pacific - or Puerto Rico, for that matter.
And, if morale is soooo low and soldiers are soooo disenfranchised, how come Bush wins the active duty and veteran vote?????
Remember too: your guy supports the war and supports the use of American troops. Whether we have a coalition or not is essentially irrelevant to the allegation of empire building. I'm not sure a coalition first world empire is any less morally corrupt than an US one. Witness Africa, for example.