The American Nightmare (two weeks later)

[rodeodance]

and it seems like the public is still not outraged.---some yes, but not that needed mass!!!


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1222-33.htm

Published on Thursday, December 22, 2005 by the Guardian/UK
The American Nightmare
The Bush Administration's Defense of Unauthorized Phone Taps Shows a Chilling Disregard For the Rule of Law
by Philip James

.......While the rest of the world may have lost faith in America long ago, President Bush is counting on the continued support of Americans. He has calculated that, after 9/11, the American people are prepared to trade some constitutional liberties for personal safety. It is a cynical calculation that has worked so far. So far fear has triumphed over hope.

The first rumblings of a backlash are finally evident in a Congress that has up to now been loth to challenge a wartime president. Sensing that the president may have overplayed his hand, Republican senator Arlen Specter has announced he'll hold hearings into Mr Bush's decision to allow domestic wiretaps without court approval.

Public opinion still lags behind the outrage of senators. In a country that still feels it could be one day away from the next terrorist attack, public opinion may never catch up. Fear may still triumph over hope.

[Ezlivin]

1. 9/11 really did change everything

But not in the way that most of us thought.

We thought: Now we'll go after the bad guys.

They thought: Now we can do any damned thing we please.

We thought: Eventually we'll turn things around.

They thought: This is the ticket for never-ending wars to keep the defense contractors happy.

We thought: He's our president; he's working for us.

They thought: Every freethinking citizen is a threat.

[Alonzo Fyfe]

2. Pose the Question

This is because those who control the press get to design the issue -- which, in this case, is the Republicans.

Read what they are saying. They are making this sound as if this is a question of whether Bush has the right to spy on those who are seeking to do us harm.

Of course he has that right. If he can show a court sufficient reason to believe that somebody will do us harm, then he clearly should be given permission to spy on them.

Too many people fail to realize that the issue is one of oversight. "Should the President be the sole judge of who to spy upon?"

At my blog, in a posting called "The Future of Iraq" I tried to illustrate just what is wrong with Bush's political philosophy by describing a possible future Iraq in which the President does nothing but that which Bush and his staff say that a President has the right to do. I am hoping that it will help a few people see the issue for what it is.

Alonzo Fyfe
Atheist Ethicist Blog

[still_one]

3. It doesn't affect them

just like the Iraq war, it is an abstraction. Only if they are directly affected will they act

Jobs are being lost, and technology is being off-shored. When the level of pain hits more and more people directly, that is when they will vote the bastards out. Until then it will remain bleak

[BlueCollar]

4. Republican controlled hearings?

Don't patronise me Mr. Specter...

I don't trust you or any other Republican at this point.