Letters to the Editor
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Justified cynicism
While I think Tim's post is rather cynical, and gives fire to the argument that "liberals don't want us to win the war on terror" (crap), I unfortunately have to agree with him. But an ingrained skepticism, or cynicism, on the part of the citizenry can seem to be squarely blamed on the administration, at this point. WHile it is worrying that there are doestic terror groups with deswigns on additional american skyscrapers, the fact that the "authorities" make wild claims before anything is proven leads one to be suspicious- their track record of truthiness is a whole lot better than their track record for the truth.
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Anyone want to make a wager...
...that there will be less coverage down the road on how this fizzles out than there is right now on the arrests?
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Also see: "Wolf, Boy Who Cried..."
Perhaps the most inexcusable result of the way Bush & Co. have handled 9/11, the real threat of terrorism and the war in Iraq is this: We've been played like violins for so long, with unnecessary color-coded alerts and overblown claims of involved terror plots, both foreign and domestic, that the public will stop listening. It has probably ALREADY stopped listening.
There is no doubt that the use of heightened terror alerts has been tied to political needs of the administration. Just as with the boy who cried wolf, WHO is to blame when we pay no heed to announcement of a REAL threat? If a tornado siren goes off repeatedly when the sky is blue, as well as when it's raining, pretty soon a rational choice is made -- you IGNORE the faulty siren. Whose fault, then, is it? I'd say it's obvious -- whoever is pushing the button to trigger the misleading siren!
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Call them on their Crap REPEATEDLY and CONTINUOUSLY
Only when our response is a timid hushed whisper can they get away with their "liberals don't want us to win the war on terror" crap. We're not afraid of a false threat. We're not afraid of a real threat. We're not afraid to fight a real threat in the most effective way, and we're sure as shit not afraid of questioning the status quo.
Today's conservatives epitomize Roosevelts "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and the Republicans in power know it and use it.
Ann Coulter claims that liberals pit the likes of Cindy Sheehan and 9/11 wives up against Republicans thinking they are untouchable in terms of a Republican response. First of all, that is complete shit. Second of all, Republicans use issues like terror and war to further their agenda because they think those issues are untouchable. See: unpatriotic, hates America, cut-and-run, etc.
It plays right into the minds of the weak. First of all, they're all already scared of their own shadows to begin with. Second of all, the Republicans have convinced these chicken shits that they are the only people who can protect them from the boogey man. And finally, their cheesey tough guy act provides perfect cover for folks who question their own emotional and physical strength. See: "wanted dead or alive" and Protection of Marraige Act (if I hate gays I must not be gay).
Why are so many afraid of this fight? These are the biggest bunch of chicken shits in the history of our country. And I swear to God I'll e-slap the first person who says "this isn't a fight."
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Enemy Combatants?
Has Emperor Bush declared these guys enemy combatants yet? Way I understand it, then we can strip them of their constitutional rights, fly them to Syria and have some real experts do the torture, instead of the amateurish crap at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.
From an organizational viewpoint, one of the decisions you have to make is whether to go with employees - for whom you have to do withholding and chip in social security, or to employ independent contractors - who you can just send a 1099 to. One of the big advantages to outsourcing torture is you don't wind up incurring elevated healthcare costs due to the stress involved for the torturers (let alone the torturees).
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No win situation....
with the leftnuts. It's just not serious until people have died for you people. Complain that we - and I mean those of us who think there are actual bad people out there who want to hurt us - don't do enough to protect the US because Iraq is a drain, but when something is done you blow it off as a fantasy.
Don't worry guys, some horrific catastrophe will occur on our shores and you'll be able to wallow in the blood of your fellow Americans, like hungry Vampires, and cry that we didn't do enough.
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Don't think we'll move just yet...
Even as someone who lives in downtown Chicago and whose wife works in the Sears Tower, I find it hard to surpress my cynicism. On the rare occasions that we hear the backstories on these cases, the truth is much less glamourous than the reports, if not completely ludicrous. One of the cases Bush sites frequently, where we intercepted a "terrorist" buying Stinger missiles, is a great example. In that case, the FBI followed someone, over the course of a couple of years, that while certainly not a nice person, was a blowhard and wannabe at best. Ultimately, to make their case, the government had to not only agree to buy the missiles from this suspected terrorists, but they had to produce and sell them to him as well. We may have unearthed a bad person with no moral imperative against harming Americans, but we ultimately spent millions of dollars to lock up someone who was not remotely a clear or present danger.
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terrorists in Miami?
This has got to be one of the lamest stories I've seen lately. The "informant" asked these guys if they would like to blow up some buildings, with support from al Queda. They said yes, and the informant gave them a camera and some boots. Then they took pictures of public buildings in Miami. We're supposed to believe they were going to blow up the Sears Tower? With what? The best these morons could have done was kick someone in the balls with their new boots.
I'm sorry, but I am absolutely cynical about this sort of story. How convenient to have this come out just when things are going to crap in Baghdad. Is it just me?