There's a new movie out on HBO called "Strip Search" starring Glenn Close and Maggie Gyllenhall. I suggest all you that are all gung-ho about depriving certain foreigners of their rights in pursuit of fighting terrorism watch this and remember when it comes your turn in the barrel, you asked for it!
Airplane ticket: $300 Cab fare to Airport: $30 The look on Mike's face when he realizes the pilot is one of his precious foreigners and they are about 10 seconds away from slamming into the Sears Tower: Priceless!
I don't give a rat's ass about the rights of any foreigner. I care about MY rights! You tell me how under the American system of equal justice you can deny a foreigner his rights or forfeit yours and I can keep mine and I'll be delighted to go along with it! I also know what it's like to be falsely accused of a crime and being a victim of having those rights denied. Until you've sat in that chair my friends, you have no idea of how precious they are! You people seem to think that because you are American, you will somehow be exempt from the things you want foreigners subjected to. Well you are mistaken. In the pursuit of stopping terrorism, your authorities will make no distinction between you and them if they think you are involved. Personally, I don't want to go there. Unlike you people I'm not afraid to stop living my life. I happen to believe that God is in control and when He says it's my time to go, it's my time to go and there's not a damn thing I can do to stop it. All I care about in that instance is that I am right with Him. And yes, should the slim chance occur that I am ever on a hijacked airliner that is about to be crashed , I will definitely be afraid, if that makes you happy. Now I know some of you morons out there will interpret that as a death wish or something but I don't want to die any more than anybody else. I just face the fact that no one gets out of here alive and I am not willling to live my life in fear or surrender my rights worrying about something that is not likely to happen. So if you people want to go on living in fear and surrender your rights and freedoms, then please do those of us who don't a favor and move to China or North Korea or Singapore or some place where the government will take care of you and tell you what to do and think and you won't have to worry about such things.
WTF do your rights as an American citizen have to do with any "rights" of a person in the USA from a middle eastern nation here on a so called "student" visa? Why don't we just apologize to all the detainees in Guantanamo and give them an all expense paid vacation in Vegas courtesy of the taxpayers? While were at it lets give them all a few sticks of dynamite and a map to the Capitol Building or the New York Stock Exchange.
What are you? Joking? Naive? Ignorant? Or just plain stupid? As an American, you really have to ask that question? Any person in this country, whether citizen or visitor, is subject to all the laws equally and conversely awarded the same rights. Nowhere, at least that I am aware of, is any LEGAL visitor to this country subjected to a different set of laws than any citizen except in the area of immigration. As far as I know they still have the rights of free speech, free press, freedom of religion and the freedom to come and go as they please, as long as they don't break the law, just like any American citizen. Nowhere that I am aware of is any foreigner subject to a different set of rules regarding arrests, trial and convictions and proper representation of legal counsel than any American citizen. And please don't cite the Patriot Act as having singled out foreigners because it didn't. It applies equally to American citizen and foreigner alike. The government can check your background, tap your phone, check your computer and what you read at the library, what you buy, etc. the same as any foreigner if they think you're a threat. They can keep you locked up forever without charging you or formerly arresting you and totally denying you your rights, same as any foreigner. I don't know about you but that frightens me a hell of alot more than the slight possiblity I might get on board some airliner that might get hijacked by some terrorist. Like I said, I've had a taste of this crap and believe me I know what a few of these power mad fools can do. They don't give a damn about rights. All they care about is padding their numbers, making themselves look good. There is no such thing as innocent until proven guilty. If they say you're guilty, you're guilty! And I know that one of you will come here with the reasoning, "If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have anything to fear." You don't HAVE to do anything wrong. All you have to do is have the APPEARANCE of wrongdoing. Matter of fact, all you have to have is to just let them think you've done something wrong or associated with the wrong people. Wake up people. We are in far greater danger of the terrorist threat from within our own country and government under the guise of "protecting us" than from a bunch of ragheads. At least the worst they can do to us is kill us. Who is going to protect us from the "protectors"? You'd better stop worrying so much about something that MAY happen and start worrying about what IS happening.
Please be more specific. I can understand your near hysteria over your *rights* being trampled upon by the Federal Government. Ironic that many on the left have used the power of the Federal Government, especially the Courts, to enforce beliefs and judge made law, but that is beside the point from what I can tell with your rant. What specifically are you concerned with? That a federal beauracrat will find out what books you checked out or bought at Barnes & Noble? That, like Clarence Thomas, someone will find out you rented a racy movie at the local adult bookstore? Personally, I'm not as concerned about the government finding out information about me as I am with private parties finding out what I do, or more specifically, my credit card number and personal information. Nothing in the Patriot Act protects me or prevents that from occuring. I sometimes wish too that we lived in the 18th Century and our biggest fear was the Redcoats would barge into our log home and at worse accuse us of being *rebels*. As it is today, we have legitimate concerns that some terrorist not affiliated with any sovereign will come into the US with a *student visa* and blow up a building. I'm open to legitimate ways to try to prevent such, recognizing their is no way to absolutely prevent such from occuring. If some beauracrat finds out I rented *Girls Gone Wild* at Blockbuster last year, I'm not really too concerned. Now if some computer ace finds out I checked out my bank balance and finds out my personal information, I am concerned.
Yeah, that's it...let 'em ALL in. No security whatsoever. And if they just happen to fly 4 more planes into skyscrapers, well I guess that's just God's will too, huh? Serves us right for building such tall buildings to begin with. You, my foolish friend, have very little room to be calling anybody else on this board a moron, so you might just want to put a lid on that.
I've never said or implied any such thing. I'd be a raving lunatic to suggest that we don't need safeguards in place to protect our country. I don't have a problem with fingerprinting foreigners and requiring them to check in on a regular basis with authorities as long as we apply the law equally to ALL foreigners and we as Americans accept that we may have to do the same thing in other countries. You say you're not concerned about some bureaucrat finding out you bought "Girls Gone Wild". You'd better be because some Anti-porn fanatic can use that to make your life miserable. It is just a short step in the mind of someone like that to go from "Girls Gone Wild" to child porn and child molestation or any of a number of sex crimes. Especially if you have a history of partaking in sexually related literature. Evidently you're not old enough to remember the Meese Commission. You may not be a supporter of Hitler or Marx or Lenin or Mao but I can guarantee you that if the wrong person or bureau found out you read Mein Kampf or Little Red Book or other books by them you'd be under investigation in a heartbeat! And what about the threat from within our own country by Americans such as Tim McVeigh? Are we going to fingerprint every American and make us check in regurlarly? Not me buddy! The fact is you can't prevent every disaster. People, no matter who they are or where they live are going to be able to pull something off if we live in a free society. That's the price I am willing to pay for my freedom. I hear you and others talk about our soldiers willing to give their lives in defense of our freedom. But obviously you're not. The war on terrorism is being fought on many fronts, the American homeland one of them. So whether you die on the battlefield in a uniform or on an airliner being blown up makes no difference. The battle is the same, the death has the same meaning, for the same cause. If you take away our freedoms and rights, then what is there left to fight for? I too am concerned about the other things you mention but at least I can do something about that. I don't do business on the internet except with companies I know. I shred documents such as credit card offers I get in the mail. I don't use my SS# as an ID. But you aren't going to see this problem addressed by the Republicans because it is viewed as a barrier to business. If you believe what you say, that you are more afraid of what might happen with identity theft, which in my opinion is more of a terrorist threat than some raghead flying into buildings again, then let your congressman know it and tell them to take care of business at home and see what kind of reply you get.
