Re: Liberty

I sat in a movie theater watching "Schindler's List," asked myself, "Why didn't the Jews fight back?"

The German media was busy demonizing them, so they had little public support. It was forbidden to question the motives of Hitler. And the Jews weren't well armed.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Pearl Harbor" and asked myself, "Why weren't we prepared?"

Because we couldn't get public support for entry into the war without something drastic, we put our military in harm's way, in violation of our own military policies, so that the attack could occur.

Civilized people cannot fathom, much less predict, the actions of evil people.

... especially when it's one's own leaders... or one's self...

On September 11, dozens of capable airplane passengers allowed themselves to be overpowered by a handful of poorly armed terrorists because they did not comprehend the depth of hatred that motivated their captors.

Of course not. You yourself (the author) are not willing to examine the overwhelming volume of evidence which shows how evil the United States government has been in the last century. You are an example of blissful ignorance turned vengeful ignorance. Instead of recognizing your own failings (or the failings of your country) which allowed this to occur, you only see "the enemy" on whom you assign all blame for these events.

On September 11, thousands of innocent people were murdered because too many Americans naively reject the reality that some nations are dedicated to the dominance of others.

Most especially, too many Americans naively reject the reality that their own government is dedicated to the domination and exploitation of the world.

Many political pundits, pacifists and media personnel want us to forget the carnage.

No, actually, we'd like you to look around and recognize all the carnage created by our own government and military forces in the last several decades. Forget the carnage? Open your eyes!

They say we must focus on the bravery of the rescuers and ignore the cowardice of the killers.

The cowardice of killers (i.e. US leaders) who send military forces to interfere with the sovereignty of other nations? The cowardice of killers who shoot missiles from a distance? The cowardice of political leaders who manipulate the media to influence public opinion and the educational system to ensure that the population is easily swayed?

They implore us to understand the motivation of the perpetrators.

If you don't know what caused something, you cannot hope to prevent it in the future. Simple cause and effect, really. Why you fight this obvious bit of truth is the Great Mystery.

Major television stations have announced they will assist the healing process by not replaying devastating footage of the planes crashing into the Twin Towers.

I think we might actually agree on this one, although I'm not entirely certain what the point is here. Is this allegedly to help us forget, part of some ploy by those evil pacifists, or just stupid political correctness?

I will not be manipulated.

Too late. This is exactly what "they" want of you. Thanks for buying in.

I will not pretend to understand.

Hmmm... seems to me that "not understanding" is exactly what you're doing. There's really no point in your pretending.

I will not forget.

Me either.

I will not forget the liberal media who abused freedom of the press to kick our country when it was vulnerable and hurting.

Attention liberal media: you're next. Expressing an opinion is an evil, evil thing, and it must be stopped -- especially when it disagrees with the author of this post, Ed Evans.

I will not forget that CBS anchor Dan Rather preceded President Bush's address to the nation with the snide remark, "No matter how you feel about him, he is still our president."

Attention Dan Rather: expect to be blacklisted if the author of this post, Ed Evans, ever gets into office.

I will not forget that ABC TV anchor Peter Jennings questioned President Bush's motives for not returning immediately to Washington, DC and commented, "We're all pretty skeptical and cynical about Washington."

Attention Peter Jennings: You too. Questioning your president is not allowed. Just like questioning Hitler was not allowed. (Why didn't the Jews fight back?)

And I will not forget that ABC's Mark Halperin warned if reporters weren't informed of every little detail of this war, they aren't "likely -- nor should they be expected -- to show deference."

Attention Mark Halperin: Ed Evans doesn't understand that the freedom of the press is expressly there to report to the citizens the activities of its government, since the government is not senior to the citizens -- despite the overuse of "National Security" to hide the evil that the government does.

I will not isolate myself from my fellow Americans by pretending an attack on the USS Cole in Yemen was not an attack on the United States of America.

Of course it was an attack on the United States of America. More specifically, it was an attack on our government.

I will not forget the Clinton administration equipped Islamic terrorists and their supporters with the world's most sophisticated telecommunications equipment and encryption technology, thereby compromising America's ability to trace terrorist radio, Cell Phone , land lines, faxes and modem communications.

Then you should also take a few moments to check out what the Bush adminstration sold to the various factions in the Middle East (see my previous posts in this forum for links), or what the Reagan administration sold to various factions in the Middle East, etc., etc., etc. Well done on recognizing that one administration of the US government has played a part in this mess. Now, just follow that line of reasoning to its logical conclusion and look at ALL the data.

I will not be appeased with pointless, quick retaliatory strikes like those perfected by the previous administration.

Do you mean George Bush Sr.?

I will not be comforted by "feel-good, do nothing" regulations like the silly "Have your bags been under your control?" question at the airport.

In other words, get rid of freedom! We want security, not freedom! Freedom is for pansies who just don't understand that the government is our friend!

I will not be influenced by so called,"antiwar demonstrators" who exploit the right of expression to chant anti-American obscenities.

In other words, no matter how much anyone tries to pierce the veil of ignorance that Ed Evans has imposed upon himself, he will steadfastly maintain his viewpoint. Despite lacking a significant portion of the available information, Ed knows that his slice is 100% truth, and all conclusions drawn are 100% correct!

"Anti-Regime" and "anti-War" does not mean "anti-American". Until you hunt me down and kill me, Ed Evans, I am American, too, and just because you called me "anti-American" doesn't make it true, or mean that you have suddenly acquired the rights to declare what "American" is or isn't.

I will not forget the moral victory handed the North Vietnamese by American war protesters who reviled and spat upon the returning Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines.

I will grant you that the treatment of the Viet Nam veterans upon their return was wrong. We agree here. It's too bad you have no idea why the Viet Nam war, itself, was wrong.

I will not be softened by the wishful thinking of pacifists who chose reassurance over reality.

No, but Ed is all for the wishful thinking that more wars will somehow put an end to terror -- just as soon as everyone who thinks differently from Ed is slain.

I will embrace the wise words of Prime Minister Tony Blair who told Labor Party conference, "They have no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent If they could have murdered not 7,000 but 70,000, does anyone doubt they would have done so and rejoiced in it?

Take a look at the history of the United States Government. It has no moral inhibition on the slaughter of the innocent at all. But you'd have to be willing to consider that maybe all those treehuggers know something that you don't. What if half of the accusations leveled against the government of the United States is true? What if only a quarter is true? What if it's 10%? What if it's 1%? How do you know it's 0%? Because you choose to believe it?

There is no compromise possible with such people, no meeting of minds, no point of understanding with such terror.

That realization is precisely why they've been willing to die to strike back at us. Getting you to feel that feeling is precisely why they were willing to kill several thousand of us. Now you know how they feel. The terrorists have succeeded beyond their wildest imaginings, because now you DO understand. How you feel about them is exactly how they feel about America. You just have to take that next step, and look at WHY they feel that way. You know why YOU feel that way. What did it take to get you to feel that way? Well... that's the kind of thing that has been happening to them for awhile.

Just a choice: defeat it or be defeated by it. And defeat it we must!"

Yeah, the whole "rise above it" thing -- that's so passe.

I will force myself to:
-hear the weeping
-feel the helplessness
-imagine the terror
-sense the panic
-smell the burning flesh
- experience the loss
- remember the hatred.

After all, this is bound to improve your ability to reason. But the time for reason is long gone. Now it's time for hatred and emotional pleas.

I sat in a movie theater, watching "Private Ryan" and asked myself, "Where did they find the courage?"

The same place the terrorists found the courage to strike back at America, I would imagine. I haven't seen Private Ryan.

We have no choice. Living without liberty is not living.

The only thing we have is choice. Claiming that we have no choice is an excuse not to explore any.

You don't want liberty. You want security. You want less liberty, and more security. Your airport comment clearly shows that.

Well, one of the founders of this country had this to say:

"Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security." -- Benjamin Franklin

There is only one security, and that is good will. Until the United States earns the good will of nations, it will never be secure.

The United States of America will never earn the good will of nations so long as it allows its government to run rampant throughout the world destabilizing other governments, other nations, and other societies for the purpose of exploiting them.

=-John-=