I was worried that my post about Ashcroft’s proposed extension of the Patriot Act was just so much screed. A discussion thread over at Plastic has convinced me otherwise. The thread starts off with this gem from Goldmund:
First they came for the Drug Dealers
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Drug Dealer.
Then they came for the non-citizens
and I did not speak out
because I was a citizen.
Then they came for the suspected terrorists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a suspected terrorist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Or in the words of one ‘Anonymous Idiot,’
So what do we do?
We move. Really. We move, and we do it now, while it’s still possible. We don’t wait until it’s clear to every idiot that the time to move has come – at that point, it will no longer be possible.
It’s much too late to change anything. It has been for quite some time.
Why is this blatantly unconstitutional bill getting little to no media coverage? Am I the only one who’s thought about what it would take to move to Europe, how quickly I could sell all my belongings and skip town? Am I the only one who’s wondered if I’d be able to tell my friends and family before I left, afraid of endangering them? Am I the only one who’s afraid that their Arab friends will be the first to disappear?
God willing and the creek don’t rise, this bill won’t even make it to committee. But it’s older brother did, and it sailed right through Congress. Conservative pundits are increasingly accusing the war-opposed and war-ambivalent of being un-American. And Ann Coulter has gone so far as to accuse us of treason. They control all three branches of government, and their chutzpah seems to know no bounds.
Okay, I’ll start breathing into my paper bag now.
From an external perspective, it seems to me that these acts are the treason. The voices against them are those who are truly proud of their country and its constitution. It’s the best American trait I know to question anything that infringes freedom. Those that don’t are blind, and have no real idea what caused America to be as grand a country as it is.
I can’t help but think that the US would be even better if filled with questioning rabblerousing revolutionaries. All those with self inflicted frontal lobotomies should be removed.
That includes your President. :)
It’s so easy to errode what’s important when people are scared.
It seems that what the American people really need to fear is our own president, government and most of all, the skull and bones society. I urge anyone who reads this to research information on this secret society and the names of our government officials who are members of this.
I’ll confess, sometimes I do think of moving. Then I wonder *to where*?
I don’t like Canada’s selective censorship of women’s erotica.
I don’t like Ireland’s anti-abortion stances or England’s unfriendly libel laws.
I have family in Israel, but I wouldn’t want to live there.
Much of Europe requires foreign language skills we didn’t acquire in our public school education…
Things here aren’t great, but where are they better?
Maybe instead, we should consider seceding and forming our own country. [Heck, all those Southerners running the govmint are pro-Confederacy; they ought to support such a move!]
I hear wonderful things about Finland. Lovely fjords.
Strange. I love America. Is there no room for people who are not right or left wing extremists anymore. People who think that while the government is corrupt, people in the government have good intentions? People who believe that President Bush truly believes what he is doing is right? People who think this war is not about oil? Do I have to be a cynic to interpret events? Can’t I just be an optimist? Is there something wrong with that? Would our country really be better if everyone was cynical and had leftist political views? I think not. Checks and balances are the only thing that keeps us free. We need everyone’s views in order to have a true democracy. Our system of checks and balances is superior to any I know of in European governments. I also really dislike it when people assume that because you support one issue as if you were on the Left then you support all Leftist causes. I am pro GLBT civil rights and pro fetal rights. Deal. And no, being pro fetal rights doesn’t mean I necessarily think that abortion should be 100% illegal. Deal. Deal with the fact that there are huge, huge amounts of gray and being bitter and cynical about all Republicans or all conservatism is just stupid. Okay, I’ll start breathing into my paper bag now.
Attention. This is the Cynicism Police. Please pull over. You are under arrest for not being cynical.
Fuck Ashcroft!! He has no Respect for Our Constitution