Have you ever heard the words "Rudolph Giuliani did a good job as mayor of NYC" or "George Bush has done a great job running the country" without hearing, directly afterwards, the words "after September 11"?
And yet, people are saying that he's a great President, or a great mayor. What? Is our collective memory that bad?
Have we forgotten that, before September 11th, 2001, Rudolph Giuliani was a lame-duck mayor going out of office being thought of as a bigot and an adulterer? That his idea of "cleaning up crime" in the city was arresting a whole bunch of black people, not to mention killing them for carrying wallets? That the only thing he successfully did was censor museums and drive sex shops out of business?
Have we forgotten that, before 9/11, George Bush was doing a horrible job? That he had no idea what was going on in our country, and that he had almost singlehandedly driven our economy into a huge downturn that we still suffer from now? Have we forgotten that he and his Cabinet were caught in some uncompromising positions with companies such as Enron and the like? Have we forgotten, now that he wants to go to war with Iraq, that he stands to make millions from the oil companies should his vague "war on terror" succeed?
Apparently, we have. Apparently, we've also forgotten that the Constitution guarantees us certain civil liberties that he can't take away, like a right to privacy. Odds are you didn't hear about the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act, or if you did, you heard only that it was written to help the FBI and law enforcement agencies combat terrorism in this country. Of course, what they didn't tell you was what that meant: the FBI and all law enforcement agencies now have the ability to, among other things, tap your phone and read your e-mail without prior warning, and without probable cause. They don't even need a reasonable suspicion. That's right, you people who have radical views, if you share such views in e-mail, odds are it's been picked up by the FBI's machines, and they've thrown you on a watch list. Don't do anything wrong, now.
Am I the only one who's not only shocked, but saddened that we're allowing this to happen, and in many cases, embracing it with open arms? Where are all the politicians saying "If we allow Congress to limit our civil liberties, then the terrorists have already won" like they did back in the weeks after?
It's time to make a stand, people. There will be a war on Iraq, and for no reason other than to make Bush money. Don't be fooled into thinking that he's doing this for humanitarian reasons. When he gassed the Kurds in his own country, we could've taken him out, but we didn't, so that's not an issue. Don't think that this is an attempt to further the war on terror. No matter what the Pentagon is saying, the CIA has not, and has publicly said that it has not, made any connection between Hussein and Al-Qaeda. In fact, given that Iraq is an entirely secular government, Al-Qaeda would consider them one of the many enemies they have in the Middle East. And don't think he's doing this to protect his people from any sort of threat Saddam has. There's no biological agent that he could get a hold of that has nearly enough reach to make it to the US, with or without suicidal citizens boarding planes. He has no ICBMs capable of reaching us... best he can do is 400 miles, tops. And we have NO IDEA whether or not he has nuclear weapons, and even if he did, without ICBMs, he couldn't bomb us with them. It's all about the oil. Need more proof? North Korea DOES have a nuclear weapon, but we haven't talked about war with them, in fact, we're going to settle that one "diplomatically."
Don't be fooled. George Bush stole the election, has bumbled around in the office, and does not have the best interests of the country in mind. George Bush only has one person in mind, and that's George Bush.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but I doubt it. There will be a backlash and soon. And when the violence in the streets erupts as the common man takes to arms to keep his rights as an American, I'll be there. And I'll be pissed.
And yet, people are saying that he's a great President, or a great mayor. What? Is our collective memory that bad?
Have we forgotten that, before September 11th, 2001, Rudolph Giuliani was a lame-duck mayor going out of office being thought of as a bigot and an adulterer? That his idea of "cleaning up crime" in the city was arresting a whole bunch of black people, not to mention killing them for carrying wallets? That the only thing he successfully did was censor museums and drive sex shops out of business?
Have we forgotten that, before 9/11, George Bush was doing a horrible job? That he had no idea what was going on in our country, and that he had almost singlehandedly driven our economy into a huge downturn that we still suffer from now? Have we forgotten that he and his Cabinet were caught in some uncompromising positions with companies such as Enron and the like? Have we forgotten, now that he wants to go to war with Iraq, that he stands to make millions from the oil companies should his vague "war on terror" succeed?
Apparently, we have. Apparently, we've also forgotten that the Constitution guarantees us certain civil liberties that he can't take away, like a right to privacy. Odds are you didn't hear about the passing of the USA PATRIOT Act, or if you did, you heard only that it was written to help the FBI and law enforcement agencies combat terrorism in this country. Of course, what they didn't tell you was what that meant: the FBI and all law enforcement agencies now have the ability to, among other things, tap your phone and read your e-mail without prior warning, and without probable cause. They don't even need a reasonable suspicion. That's right, you people who have radical views, if you share such views in e-mail, odds are it's been picked up by the FBI's machines, and they've thrown you on a watch list. Don't do anything wrong, now.
Am I the only one who's not only shocked, but saddened that we're allowing this to happen, and in many cases, embracing it with open arms? Where are all the politicians saying "If we allow Congress to limit our civil liberties, then the terrorists have already won" like they did back in the weeks after?
It's time to make a stand, people. There will be a war on Iraq, and for no reason other than to make Bush money. Don't be fooled into thinking that he's doing this for humanitarian reasons. When he gassed the Kurds in his own country, we could've taken him out, but we didn't, so that's not an issue. Don't think that this is an attempt to further the war on terror. No matter what the Pentagon is saying, the CIA has not, and has publicly said that it has not, made any connection between Hussein and Al-Qaeda. In fact, given that Iraq is an entirely secular government, Al-Qaeda would consider them one of the many enemies they have in the Middle East. And don't think he's doing this to protect his people from any sort of threat Saddam has. There's no biological agent that he could get a hold of that has nearly enough reach to make it to the US, with or without suicidal citizens boarding planes. He has no ICBMs capable of reaching us... best he can do is 400 miles, tops. And we have NO IDEA whether or not he has nuclear weapons, and even if he did, without ICBMs, he couldn't bomb us with them. It's all about the oil. Need more proof? North Korea DOES have a nuclear weapon, but we haven't talked about war with them, in fact, we're going to settle that one "diplomatically."
Don't be fooled. George Bush stole the election, has bumbled around in the office, and does not have the best interests of the country in mind. George Bush only has one person in mind, and that's George Bush.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but I doubt it. There will be a backlash and soon. And when the violence in the streets erupts as the common man takes to arms to keep his rights as an American, I'll be there. And I'll be pissed.