Feel Safer Now?

In light of recent press outing the fact that the president has been spying on US civilians, I thought to myself, my, don't I feel safe? Doesn't everyone? Of course, as politicians so often do, they'll try to euphemize what is going on and say, "Oh, we're just watching over you, that's all, to protect you." Uh huh. Nice try there guys.

Let's look at this, shall we? 9/11 was a horrific day in American history, but what many people don't look at is the fact that it provided opportunity for Bush and his crew to reach into their baggy of goodies and pull things out that they never thought would be possible, unless a national tragedy like 9/11 occurred. As any national tragedy would do, 9/11 brought fear to the American people and what did the government do? They took full advantage of that! They've been expanding their powers ever since that tragic day to an alarming level.

It all started with Bush claiming that Osama Bin Laden was the mastermind of the attacks and that he wanted him dead or alive. Odd, how, 4 years after the attacks, you hardly ever hear anyone up top talking about this Bin Laden fellow. How difficult can it be to find a 6'5'' Arab man walking with a stick in one hand and attached to a dialysis machine? I'm sure there are many of them walking around in the Middle East. But, nope, haven't found the guy and there hasn't been much talk of doing so in recent months.

Next, the president went delusional when he announced the War on Terror. He listed off countries he was going to go after: Iraq, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Ahhh, that's always comforting, the knowledge that the most powerful man in the country's intention is to fight battles in four (five including Afghanistan) countries. Great, that'll be five more countries who want to come after us.

How about the USA Patriot Act? I'm curious on how many people have actually looked over and read about the bill. That was passed on October 26th, 2001, just over a month after the attacks. What did that cleverly titled bill impose? It allowed the sneak and peek of homes, allowed the searching of homes without a warrant, allowed for our library and medical files to be looked over without our knowledge. It also made the term "terrorist" a very vague and loose term, so that it could be used against those who simply did not support the policies of the president, such as peace and anti-war groups.

The color-coded system was very...cute. Who pays attention to these things anymore, anyway? What is it? Orange, red, yellow, green, lavender, periwinkle, and hot pink? Strangely enough, it was effective for a while. Bush's top aides made sure to raise the terror-alert level when his ratings were dropping or back before the re-election, when Kerry had pulled ahead. Ironically enough, it brought fear into the mind of the public, and the government would then lower the level a couple days afterward. Studies have shown that Bush's approval ratings have increased a good percentage in the following days of the alert level being raised.

We then went to war with Iraq without approval, which is against International Law, so that was...special. Over 2,100 US soldiers have died. Well over 10,000 more have been wounded. Over 30,000 Iraqi civilians have perished and over 90,000 Iraqis total (including insurgents). I've lost track of how much money we've spent on the war. But, we went from a $3 trillion surplus at the end of Clinton's reign to a $2 trillion deficit in 5+ years under the Bush Administration. It might even be more than $2 trillion now. I've stopped counting. There is also no end in sight. The heads of the federal government say they'll begin withdrawing troops when we achieve victory. What is victory, though? First, it was to find weapons of mass destruction and then, oops, they weren't there. Then it was the fact that Iraq was linked to Al-Qaeda, and was therefore part of the 9/11 attacks. That too was proven to be false. So, on to plan C: Ahh, I got it! Everyone will love this one! Let's spread democracy to Iraq! That will help win the War on Terror! Some alongside Bush have said that it could last a couple years to 10 to 15 to 20 years. So, what was the main goal and purpose for this illegal invasion? Who knows, but I can guarantee you the initial intention wasn't to spread democracy to Iraq.

The Katrina response was lovely. Good old Michael Brown, who was head of FEMA when they went to New Orleans and was appointed to that position by the president (they're old pals), never had any experience with that type of work. What was he experienced in? Horse training! Bush's nomination for Supreme Court Justice Harriet Miers was humorous as well. She had no experience in that line of work either. What was her experience in? The beautiful business of keno. These nominations go alongside the indictments and charges brought against Tom DeLay, Scooter Libby, Cunningham, and possibly Karl Rove.

How about that Miami shooting? At first, from how the government described it, it sounded like the air marshals may have done the right thing. But, based on further reports and stories I've read, witnesses claim the man never said the word "bomb" and that they were more frightened of the air marshals than of the man who was shot and killed. Instead of pointing at the ground, the marshals had the guns at people's heads, knocking one man's phone from him and putting the shotgun to his head. The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) just released a report stating that the air marshals overreacted. Gee, do you think?

This finally brings us to the latest scandal. After 9/11, Bush authorized domestic spying, using wiretaps, for our protection, so he and his administration claim. That'd be like my parents using all the devices they could possibly use to spy on (watch over) me. Some people may say, "Well, if you have nothing to hide, what's the problem?" The problem is an invasion of privacy going on that is shrinking our freedoms so hard that our forefathers have to be spinning so hard in their grave that they've been upgraded to an F3 tornado. Would I feel safer if my parents were watching over my every move? No. I'd feel paranoid. Because, let's be honest, we all do and say things we don't want our folks to know about. Some things are best to be kept private, which is the same in this case. They don't need to be spying on peace protesters, putt putt courses (funny, but a putt putt course was on the watch list until recent), Catholic Churches (two students from a Catholic Church in Alaska are on the watch list. They're in 3rd and 4th grade), or coming directly to a university to inquire a kid on a book he was reading (he was doing a book report on Communism). They don't need to be intercepting and reading our e-mails or wiretapping our phone calls. Again, that isn't "watching over," that's "spying on."

So, my question was and is, do we feel safer? After we have yet to find the supposed mastermind of 9/11, Osama Bin Laden? After the declaration of a War on Terror that will never end and through that, make increasing amounts of enemies? After a Patriot Act that infringes upon US Civilians' Civil Liberties? After the government intentionally used their color-coded system for personal gain? After 2,100 US soldiers were killed, 10,000 more wounded, and over 90,000 total Iraqis were killed? After the Katrina response, the Miers nomination, and the continual indictments inside the administration? After the shooting of an innocent man with bipolar disorder on an airplane? After the outing of the government's wiretapping? After Bush calls the Constitution just a piece of paper? If one doesn't care about their freedoms or privacy, then yes, they may proclaim. They do indeed feel safer. I, on the other hand, do not. I find it highly disturbing and ironic that while our soldiers are over in Iraq attempting to spread democracy to the best of their abilities in a foreign land; we're having our rights, liberties, and freedoms slowly stripped away from us.