Your parents weren’t wrong. You really can make a difference? Not sold on the idea? That’s
fine, I will prove it to you. Most parents tell you that you can be the catalyst of all
sorts of things in life. Parents and teachers tell you that your actions, if well-considered and well-prepared, can impact the world. A few such examples are Osama bin
Laden, Mohammed Atta, and his co-conspirators who aided in the Tuesday, September 11, 2001
suicidal-terrorist attacks on New York’s World Trade Center and on the Pentagon. See, your
parents really were right! One person really can make a difference.
The question which begs to be asked is, “What kind of impact do I wish to have in life."
Well, I would hope your intentions are good and pure. I would hope you would aspire to
help others in some manner, such as being a doctor in an inner-city clinic; working with a
local library or school reading program to help illiterate adults learn to read; or be the
best garbage collector in your city. It makes no difference what you do in life, provided
you do it in a committed manner.
The impact Osama bin Laden has had on the United States, as a government and as a people,
is still being measured. Sitting back, taking inventory of the current tide, I would say
bin Laden has successfully accomplished at least one facet of his plan: he has created
paranoia, and to that end, has scored a major victory in his personal war against the
United States. Need proof? That’s simple enough. Take a look around the United States.
It’s becoming a police state. It’s still remains the Home of the Brave, as exhibited by
the heroics of Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick aboard United Airlines Flight 93. They are the
passengers who took decisive action to crash the flight into a field in rural western
Pennsylvania rather than allow the terrorists to continue with their planned meeting with
Allah after destroying an unknown target in Washington, D.C.
While the United States may continue to reign as the Home of the Brave, it no longer is a
contender in for the Land of the Free banner. It’s now Land of the Homeland Security
Forces. Life has become laughable, in a sense, when you stop to consider things. We have
beefed up security at airports, attempting to stop would-be hijackers from carrying
plastic box cutters aboard planes, but a man from a Philadelphia suburb was able to
successfully carry several aboard a flight, not once, but twice. He carried the razors
aboard the plane, then called the FAA and told them about the breach of security. He was arrested and now faces charges, and he ought to face the charges. He
violated federal law. Should he be severely punished? No, he created an awareness that
even with the rent-a-cops at high-alert after the attacks, security measures are still
lax. That said, National Guard troops are now being moved into the nation’s airports to
stand guard and beef up security. All that does is help keep the honest terrorists out of
the airport. Those who are committed to their cause will not be hindered by National Guard
troops. The terrorists have displayed their willingness to die for Allah. To die for their
cause. They believe they will each get 70 virgins after they die because they successfully completed their missions. One key that
could be exploited is they are not supposed to look upon other women, especially nude
women. I propose we take Playboy centerfolds, enlarge the centerfolds to life-size
proportions, and plaster them in the nation’s airports. We could then allow the National
Guardsmen to return home to their families. Am I trivializing the situation? Yes, to an
extent, but it is also pointing out some obvious flaws in Washington’s thinking.
I drove by Independence Mall on October 1, 2001. It’s the national park where Independence
Hall and the Liberty Bell are located. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the
significance of Independence Hall, it’s the place where the Declaration of Independence
was signed on July 4, 1776. The one thing that really stuck out that day, compared to all
the other times I had driven past the area was the addition of metal barriers and armed
guards. This is no longer a welcome site, it’s the epitome of paranoia running rampant. If one goal of the terrorist attacks was to strike fear at the very heart
of America, well, it’s been accomplished.
The government is going so far to create a sense of protection and well-being, that overkill is the word of the day. Instead of creating a sense of comfort
and protection, the government is probably creating a lot of additional worry in people
worry that need not be present. I firmly believe that the cowardly acts of September 11
are but the beginning of the woes the U.S. will face in the future. By the same token, I
also don’t believe in getting paranoid about living life. There’s a parable that’s been
around for at least 10 years. It goes something like this: “Do you believe in life after death?" The other person says: “No, not really." That prompts the first
person to ask why. “Well, in order for people to even have a remote possibility of life
after death, they had to have led a life before death. Most never achieve that."
President George W. Bush asked Americans to get back to doing things in life, to get back
to work, to get back to flying in planes, and to get back doing the things they were doing
prior to the September 11 attacks. Some people are hesitant, and some are scared to death.
Insurance companies are reporting they expect a record number of claims for counseling
relating to stress experienced as a result of the attacks.
What does it mean to get back to life as normal? There is no longer a state of normal in
the United States. Normal was delineated September 11. Nothing exists as it did prior to
the attacks, and nothing can return as it was. We were a nation that was overconfident in
national defense. Sure, we have military forces that have remarkable records of successes,
but we, as Americans, felt too secure, on the whole, within our borders. That feeling is
now eradicated.
What else is being eradicated? Well, there are some in federal government who would like
to create a national identification card, and Oracle has offered to provide the software
to create the cards. People possessing commercial licenses with a hazardous material
endorsement are being investigated for possible links to terrorism. Do you really believe,
for a minute, that a terrorist would go out of his way to get a license to drive a truck
so he can pull off a suicide attack in the name of Allah? I don’t, not for a second. There
are calls to ban and punish people for offensive speech, such as people who are critical
of the U.S. government. Hate crime laws are being eyed for words spoken to people of
Middle Eastern heritage. Companies are being criticized for not being more sensitive or
timelier in removing ads which show the former famed New York City skyline. It’s now
illegal in New York City to take photos at Ground Zero. New York City has instituted a
policy that no vehicle is allowed in the downtown area, between certain hours, with only
one person. This is designed to help cut down on the number of vehicles, which helps with traffic. It is still one more step to
totalitarianism.
The U.S. Government’s own radio station, Voice of America, was in the news in late
September. VOA was able to secure an interview with Mullah Omar, leader of Afghanistan’s
Taliban regime. When VOA went to air the interview, the Broadcast Board of Governors said
they didn’t think the interview was appropriate. Some in the media misinterpreted the
comments and flew off the handle, charging the U.S. State Department was censoring VOA. In
the end, VOA did air the interview despite the objections of the Board of Governors.
In wartime, people are censored. Ideas are censored. Freedom takes a backseat to winning the war. The war becomes “the cause." The cause, in effect, becomes
the priority. The thing that Americans forget is that this is still America. We still, as
the Founding Fathers so eloquently wrote, “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that
all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness -- That to secure
these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the
Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these
Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." I encourage and admonish you to
carefully read and consider the full text and meaning of the Declaration of
Independence.
This nation’s founding was based on beliefs that people ought not be subjected to a dictatorship. In wartime, however, certain prudent steps must be taken to
ensure national security. Ah, there are the buzzwords of the day. National security. Funny
words, you know. A lot of things are done in the name of national defense. People are
arrested, property is seized. Others are spied upon, some arrested. All in the name of
national defense. Osama bin Laden is wanted dead or alive, and the U.S. Special Forces
operating in Afghanistan been told to get bin Laden, or kill him. So some people, we can
now surmise, with absolute certainty and proof, are killed in the name of national
defense.
TorresD and Bryan J. Maloney debated the end of free speech in America over on the
soc.culture.puerto-rico
newgroup. TorresD said, “In the most highly publicized case, a
nationally televised talk show host was shunned by many of his advertisers and criticized
by the White House spokesman for making what some considered an unpatriotic remark about
American soldiers." He was referring to a comment made on the talk show, Politically
Incorrect. Bryan came back, adding in some with that “He is free to say what he wants.
The
sponsors are free not to sponsor him for saying it. He is under no obligation to please
the sponsors of the show. The sponsors are under no obligation to keep paying him money.
Liberty works in all directions or not at all.
What really intrigued me about the discussion was further along in the thread. TorresD
said: “Last week, Mr. Maher said that the hijackers were not cowards but that it was
cowardly for the United States to launch cruise missiles on targets thousands of miles
away. Some of his main advertisers abruptly ended their sponsorship of the program, which
is designed to be controversial."
Bryan came back, saying, “It is within his rights to say this. It is within their rights
to do so. Left-wingers and right-wingers, all the same. They only want "rights" when it agrees with them."
TorresD pointed out an example about a newspaper columnist in Texas who had been fired
because he criticized the Dubya for flying around the U.S. in Air Force One on September
11. The columnist called it cowardly; the Secret Service called it prudent. As a result of
the column, the newspaper received a lot of response, mostly negative. The paper
apologized, on Page One, saying it was inappropriate to make those kinds of remarks at
such a time as this. Bryan didn’t agree. He came back, saying, “So what? It looks to me
that the only "free speech" you support is anti-American free speech. The people be damned, according to you. They are not permitted to exercise their freedom of
speech if it disagrees with anti-Americanism."
Reading in soc.culture.usa, I found “A Nizami" arguing that the “Bush Administration ordered the official Voice of America (VOA) not to broadcast the following
VOA interview with Afghanistan's supreme spiritual leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. Is it a
violation to the Freedom of Press?" It’s times when people know half the story and don’t
bother to really check things out for themselves that I get irritated. I found that
“adamfi" had the same thoughts I had when I read Nizami’s post. Adamfi wrote, “Typical.
One publicly funded news agency is dealt an admittedly heavy handed blow by morons in the
gov., now that means there is no freedom of the press in all of America?"
I had to sit and shake my head in agreement with a lot of stuff being discussed over at
misc.writing. The thread on “ID Cards???" was serious, but one where
several people tried to make light of the situation. “Woodsman" expressed his thoughts
about talk of creating a national identification card, saying, “It should work about as
well as the documents for illegal aliens that are required now and you can buy fake ones
for about 25 dollars in a major city like Houston, Texas. How many employers are provided
with fake documents by illegal aliens who now work for them harvesting avocado or
whatever? How many teenagers use fake IDs to buy alcohol?" Alan Hope replied, with a lot of good insight, saying, “An ID card that really works involves so
much intrusion it crosses the line of acceptability. It's more than just a document with
your name and picture. Here in Belgium they have compulsory ID cards, to be carried at all
times. They attest to your entry in the population register, which means that you have to
keep the authorities informed of your address and any changes thereto. In other words,
provisions which in the UK are restricted to sexual offenders and parolees are universal
here. The population register also contains information on my family circumstances and my
work details."
Alan continued, adding some additional insight. “A law professor from Antwerp once refused to comply with a routine ID check and had himself arrested and
brought to court. He insisted the question be put to the European Court of Justice whether
the rules were lawful, reasoning that the police had no right to demand his ID without
cause. He lost. It's my own view (IANAL) that ID cards in the UK (if compulsory) would be
in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and the right to privacy. Seems to me
I have the right to keep my identity to myself unless proof is a condition of some service
I've willingly sought, like a banking transaction or a travel arrangement. Forcing me to
reveal my identity is the most fundamental breach of privacy, to be allowed only where real security or public order
requirements are concerned -- and a routine check of papers doesn't fall into that
category."
Replying back to Alan was Kurt Ullman. He said there were already effective identification
cards in place. “[T]he only universal ID cards that would impact on national security (as
opposed to internal law enforcement) are already on the books through Visas, green cards,
etc., and don't seem to be doing a heckuvalot of good." Kurt has a very valid point. Look
at the information being reported daily. Some of the cowardly September 11 terrorists
apparently obtained fake identification cards from a man in Virginia. Terrorists aren’t
going to follow the laws. Get real, folks. It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee.
“Father Knows Best", “Leave It to Beaver", and “Lucy" were all taped in days long gone.
It’s time to live in the present and face reality.
What’s reality? Reality is that you are alive right now. You are sitting here, reading
this column. Reality is that you have the ability to write me an email, blast me for being
outspoken against the U.S. government. Reality is that things are not good in the U.S.
right now. Reality is that war has come home to the U.S. Reality is that you do not know
if you will be alive tomorrow. Reality is that you have no idea if you, your spouse, or
your children will fall victim to a terrorist attack, whether it is a hijacking; a
biological or chemical attack; a mass execution or explosion; or if you will all live to
be 100 years of age. Reality is now. Reality bites. Reality is that you need to live a
life, not sit back in fear and hope no one attacks the U.S. again. Reality is that we, as
Americans, need to band together, to help one another, but not fall into the jingoistic
lockstep of those in fallen empires. Reality is that life goes on. Reality is that
cemeteries are full of indispensable and irreplaceable people. Reality right now,
for me, is that it’s time to eat. Reality is that this column is finished.
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"One Person Really Can Make a Difference"
