At 09:40 PM 5/20/02, Michael Harney wrote: >From: "Ronn Blankenship" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > -- Ronn! :) > > > > God bless America, > > Land that I love! > > Stand beside her, and guide her > > Thru the night with a light from above. > > From the mountains, to the prairies, > > To the oceans, white with foam. > > God bless America! > > My home, sweet home. > >Oh no, it's a born again patriot. Run! > >Ok, I hope no one takes this sarcastic message the wrong way, so allow me to >explain what I mean here. Maybe it's just my being autistic, but I don't >understand why someone's perception of the nation in which they live should >change simply because another group launches a brutal attack on that nation.
Just to make things clear: _my_ perception did not change on 11 Sep 2001. I flew the flag at my house before then. I joined and served in the military before then. And I knew before then that the last line of "The Star Spangled Banner" is not "Play Ball!" (FWIW, I can't fly my flag right now because several days ago I found that time and weather had taken the toll on the bracket and I haven't yet had the opportunity to replace it, which will involve either drilling new holes and putting in masonry anchors or finding a different way all together to mount it. Between teaching, finals, and inclement weather it has been a hard time finding time to work outside.) >After Sept. 11, 2001 everybody sudenly got the urge to be ultra patriots. >What is sad though is that this new found "patriotism" blinded people to the >actions taken to counter these attacks. No, I am not talking about >Afghanistan. I think the campaigns in Afghanistan have been handled >exceptionally well, and with surprising diplomacy. Agreed. >That of which I speek >are executive orders issued by the president and some of the >"anti-terrorist" legislation that passed in the aftermath, which essentially >ignored the constitution, directly contradicting the bill of rights. I am >sorry, but that doesn't make me feel more the patriot, it makes me feel less >patriotic. The terrorists wanted to strike at the foundation of our country >with their actions, and with our reaction to the attack, they succeeded. In >unrelated legislation, now, for the first time ever in the history of our >country, people are trying to pass a *constitutional amendment* (not just a >law, an amendment) to *limit* the rights of some of its citizens (not define >rights, as has always been the role of the constitution in the past, but to >actually limit rights), and most people have their mind elsewhere because of >terror threats, and domestic terrorism to realize what's happening. > >I have always apreciated the freedom that this country has bestowed upon its >citizens, but at the same time recognize that there are still some things >that the government has no place interfering in, and think that recent >actions have been a huge step in the wrong direction. Don't give me any >guff about "taking a step back to take two steps forward." Any true patriot >in this country should be screaming with contempt at any attempt to limit >the individual rights of the citizens of this country. I agree with you that this is not the way to respond. I admit that I did start using the forward after the 11 Sep 2001 attacks, because it reflected how I truly feel: -- Ronn! :) God bless America, Land that I love! Stand beside her, and guide her Thru the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam� God bless America! My home, sweet home. -- Irving Berlin (1888-1989)
