Comments:

kathryn
The media may (may as in I'm actually quite sure of it) be slanting the whole thing a bit. One - the fingerprinting is new to the US. Two - I wasn't aware the anti-Bush protestors were not the first to be kept away. Repeatedly. Thirdly - I think that the US is slowly chipping away at the democracy it holds up to the world as an icon that the rest of the world should follow. I don't have any grand answers and no, it was not my country that was attacked. I just think in times like these people are not vigilant about their freedoms and will let them go for the illusion of safety. <br> They can spend how many billion to look at Mars and how many billion to make sure other countries are following their lead but people in America are starving, without healthcare, homeless and I think this is one giant diversion from the homefront. Honestly, I just see see the USA getting worse and stricter and eventually they will slide down the slippery slope that is a police state. No it isn't now of course. This scares me because Canada always follows America's lead. I don't want our country to go that way. I know your country was attacked in a real and terrible way but where and when do you draw the line? And when does America take care of itself (her own people) and stop putting its nose into everyone else's business? The American way is not the only way.
[2004-01-07 16:30:47]

The media may (may as in I'm actually quite sure of it) be slanting the whole thing a bit. One - the fingerprinting is new to the US. Two - I wasn't aware the anti-Bush protestors were not the first to be kept away. Repeatedly. Thirdly - I think that the US is slowly chipping away at the democracy it holds up to the world as an icon that the rest of the world should follow. I don't have any grand answers and no, it was not my country that was attacked. I just think in times like these people are not vigilant about their freedoms and will let them go for the illusion of safety. <br> They can spend how many billion to look at Mars and how many billion to make sure other countries are following their lead but people in America are starving, without healthcare, homeless and I think this is one giant diversion from the homefront. Honestly, I just see see the USA getting worse and stricter and eventually they will slide down the slippery slope that is a police state. No it isn't now of course. This scares me because Canada always follows America's lead. I don't want our country to go that way. I know your country was attacked in a real and terrible way but where and when do you draw the line? And when does America take care of itself (her own people) and stop putting its nose into everyone else's business? The American way is not the only way.

Christopher
Well, I agree that the American Way isn't the only way but I'd diverge from the idea that Canada follows the United States because if anything Canada has shown over the last decade of Jean Cretin's leadership that they are an independent country in many, many respects.
[2004-01-07 16:37:54]

Well, I agree that the American Way isn't the only way but I'd diverge from the idea that Canada follows the United States because if anything Canada has shown over the last decade of Jean Cretin's leadership that they are an independent country in many, many respects.

Barbara
The problem with America, could all be blamed on the ACLU and their preposterous desire to undermine the fundamental laws of the United States. If the ACLU has/have their way, we'll be weak and unable to help ourselves and everyone else in the world.
[2004-01-07 17:19:09]

The problem with America, could all be blamed on the ACLU and their preposterous desire to undermine the fundamental laws of the United States. If the ACLU has/have their way, we'll be weak and unable to help ourselves and everyone else in the world.

Karen
I think that the BIGGEST problem we have in America is that we are forgetting to be an active part of a global political community and are instead acting based solely on what our administration THINKS is "best to prevent terrorism". While I agree that the WTT attacks is the greatest terrorist attack that america has ever suffered, if this war was about that, why did we attack Iraq and not Afghanistan (who, if you remember was responsible for it). As for the ACLU, yes, there are many problems with the ACLU. Inevitably, nearly every american citizen will disagree with one of their positions. But the ACLU is an organization dedicated to protecting our rights as stated in the Constitution of the United States of America and which were thought so important by the founding citizens that before that constitution would be ratified, provisions needed to be made to add the Bill of Right which enumerated these protections. While I may personally disagree with many of the ACLU's positions, I respect their fight to protect what our fore-father's clearly thought we needed to state. In this day and age of supervision, police checks, and the "patriot" act, we need to be more vigilant than ever in protecting our constitutional rights. It terrifies me that I can now be arrested and held without a formal charge because of what LIBRARY books I've checked out or because of which clubs I belong to at college (evidently the PEACE COALITION is a subversive organization and meditating is a crime). As for tracking visitors to our country and fingerprinting, I see no issue with REGISTERING all visitors and asking for their planned intinerary. But I look at it as, if I was traveling to their country, would I wish to be subjected to whatever restrictions we place on them. It is well known that fingerprinting is done for criminal justice purposes, and I fear that we may offend foreign visitors by intimating that we consider them criminals and this may have long reaching effects on international relations. We need to be protecting the tenous peace we have with the few allies we have left.
[2004-01-07 20:04:30]

I think that the BIGGEST problem we have in America is that we are forgetting to be an active part of a global political community and are instead acting based solely on what our administration THINKS is "best to prevent terrorism". While I agree that the WTT attacks is the greatest terrorist attack that america has ever suffered, if this war was about that, why did we attack Iraq and not Afghanistan (who, if you remember was responsible for it). As for the ACLU, yes, there are many problems with the ACLU. Inevitably, nearly every american citizen will disagree with one of their positions. But the ACLU is an organization dedicated to protecting our rights as stated in the Constitution of the United States of America and which were thought so important by the founding citizens that before that constitution would be ratified, provisions needed to be made to add the Bill of Right which enumerated these protections. While I may personally disagree with many of the ACLU's positions, I respect their fight to protect what our fore-father's clearly thought we needed to state. In this day and age of supervision, police checks, and the "patriot" act, we need to be more vigilant than ever in protecting our constitutional rights. It terrifies me that I can now be arrested and held without a formal charge because of what LIBRARY books I've checked out or because of which clubs I belong to at college (evidently the PEACE COALITION is a subversive organization and meditating is a crime). As for tracking visitors to our country and fingerprinting, I see no issue with REGISTERING all visitors and asking for their planned intinerary. But I look at it as, if I was traveling to their country, would I wish to be subjected to whatever restrictions we place on them. It is well known that fingerprinting is done for criminal justice purposes, and I fear that we may offend foreign visitors by intimating that we consider them criminals and this may have long reaching effects on international relations. We need to be protecting the tenous peace we have with the few allies we have left.

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