On Fri, 21 Sep 2001, Brett Coster wrote:
> You're offering something from David Horowitz as a character reference? Good
> joke!!!
Well, that was my initial reaction. Then I read it again and thought some
more, and I thought, well, if he's right, he might have a point.
On the other hand, I've read enough of Horowitz's stuff to know that a)
where I see an apple, he sees and orange, and b) I trust his ability to
make a good-faith effort to stick to the facts about as much as I trust my
dog to leave fresh, warm bacon undisturbed on the kitchen floor.
Plus there's the question of the difference between treason and
dissidence, and the obvious and glaring question of why, if the treason of
these individuals is a self-evident matter of public record for all to
see, are these individuals still running around in apparently
well-respected Washington DC circles? Must be that vast left-wing
conspiracy again.
But maybe Horowitz is right. I which cases the question arises, if a
deceitful hatemonger like Jesse Helms can be said to have rehabilitated
himself through public service, why not Barbara Lee?
Regardless, it's beside the point I really want to make, which is that
with Old Glory popping up like Bud Lite commercials everywhere, and with
endless refrains of "God Bless America" being piped through mall P.A.
systems (mixed with an unhealthy dose of "Dixie" in my local Dillards),
it's going to become really hard for people to question the government
when it says "Trust me for the sake of America. Trust your leaders, even
though we might not be able to tell you what we're actually doing at any
given moment." But we're going to have to question, because it is not the
government, patriarch-like, that is responsible for defending and defining
America. It's the people. As some point the citizens of this country are
going to have to make a choice between freedom, skepticism, and sober
realization of danger on the one hand, and "security," "trust in
government," and "the wisdom of our leaders" on the other.
Golly, that almost makes me sound like a conservative.
Still, the same people who've been telling us for years that government
isn't competent to be allowed to run public schools is now telling us that
government is competent to run a global and clandestine war with a minimum
of public oversight because, well, y'all just have to trust us. Bull.
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
"If you will not grant me victory, then grant me vengeance!"
Conan the Barbarian
"Blessed are the peacemakers."
Jesus Christ
Marvin Long
Austin, Texas
"If you will not grant me victory, then grant me vengeance!"
Conan the Barbarian
"Blessed are the peacemakers."
Jesus Christ
