As the nation mourns, the leftists rub their hands with glee...

As America (and the majority of the world) mourns and reels from the events of the day, the leftists and socialists must be rubbing their hands with glee. For them, the silver lining to this very dark cloud is a new--and very powerful--"justification" for restricting and violating the constitutionally-guaranteed rights and liberties of all Americans.

Already, there are calls for trading personal freedom for state "security." The leftist media, have already announced poll results from today proclaiming that Americans support sacrificing liberty for government protection from terrorist threats. Ignoring the fact that such polls are highly contrived and biased to illicit a targeted response, the sad fact is that many--if not most--Americans have no comprehension of the true tenets of freedom and thus, have no understanding of what it is they are sacrificing.

Unfortunately, vast numbers of "liberal" and "liberated" Americans have been brainwashed, coerced, and "educated" into believing that the government is the source of all power, all responsibility (for their lives, not for its own actions), and all prosperity.

These people are so weak in thought and character, that they tremble at the thought of self-defense, personal responsibility, and fighting for freedom and principle. To them, the tragedies that occured today are beyond realm of possibilities in their small, self-centered worlds. Such events are only supposed to occur in a Hollywood movie for their personal entertainment. And even then, the fake horrific images such as seen in the opening scenes of "Saving Private Ryan," prompt them to call for more government control (and less real personal sacrifice).

So when their world is violated and turned upside-down as it was today, their response is not to stand tall and call to arms, but to cower and call for the government to "save" them.

And the leftist leaders are all too ready to step up and say, "There, there my little frightened sheep, I'll protect you. But of course, you have to give us more money and power. And you have to be willing to make some sacrifices. No, no, don't worry, you don't have to go out and risk your own lives like your patriotic forefathers before you (we already have red-blooded conservative volunteers to do that), you just have to let us take away some of those extraneous liberties you--and your fellow Americans--have no real need for...especially those 'dangerous' ones like the right to keep and bear arms that are so scary for you little sheep."

Yes, the leftists have wasted no time exploiting these terrorist acts to justify expanding their power...and eroding our freedoms. In an ABC interview today, Senator John Edwards (D-NC), talking about the need to beef up security and fight terrorism, must have stated about five times (in less than five minutes) the need to "spend more money." (And other than promising to spend more of OUR money, he didn't say a damn thing of substance with regards to combating terrorism or preventing future terrorist acts.) Some other pundit discussed severly restricting the freedom of Americans to travel, claiming that people just can't handle the responsibility. And all afternood and evening, the leftist media were talking about how this day would "permanently change the way of life in America," specifically citing reductions in personal freedom and liberty.

I would also like to make one other point. While I'm not a strong supporter of President Bush, I take strong umbrage at the leftist media using this national tragedy to take verbal potshots at our President. Today, I heard him literally called a "weenie" for exercising the very prudent security plan of relocating his presidential command to NORAD. And several leftist media spinmeisters (they certainly aren't "journalists") such as Katie Couric, tried to imply that these terrorist acts were the direct result of President Bush's foreign policy (obviously ignoring the eight-years of Clinton's actions and inactions that set the stage for today's events).

All I can say is, I'm disgusted!

Not a supporter of Pres. Bush? How did I guess that?

Is it because you're more concerned with how many more semi-auto weapons you can collect than the fact that we have just been attacked and may soon be at war?

I hope the likes of you can get your head out of your navel long enough to realize what is important right now.

Not you again, are you enjoying being such a disruptor?

This warning comes at a very right time, to give up liberty for security is STUPID and does not work. The government is NOT our savior and never was meant to be. We have rights, and in order to have those rights we need to take responsibility for our own security. You may love the government involved in every aspect of your life, but I don't want it thank you. I can and will protect myself and family, if that is what it takes to have my freedom. And that IS what it takes.

I guess your right, already there is a poll asking "Are you willing to give up some personal liberties for security?", and Peter Jennings, it was reported, asked if President Bush is mentally ill.

And I'm seeing some eye popping posts on FR tonight about us all being Americans and hanging together with the democrats, while for the democrats it's business as usual, sedition, sedition, sedition.

I am a US Navy veteran. I spent ten years of my life in service to my country. Those ten years included--for right or for wrong--deployment in Desert Shield/Desert Storm from Aug 1990 - Apr 1991.

So I have already been to war. (And I'll take up arms again, if I have to, in order to defend the life and liberty of myself or my loved ones.) I have already made my personal sacrifice defending the Constitutional rights that you and so many other citizens are willing to throw away. What have you done?

If you choose to yield your liberties to the "benevolent state" and the socialists who increasingly control it, that is your folly. But what gives you the authority to sacrifice the rights of other free men? Or to criticize me for standing up for my inherent rights and the Constitutional rights of this nation?

I am a US Navy veteran. I spent ten years of my life in service to my country.

Well, other people haven't had their turn yet, okay? I seem to recall that "civil liberties" were greatly curtailed during World War 2, and we seemed to have gotten by just fine. Helped us win the war, in fact.

I think we have more pressing things to worry about than if your favorite gun-show gets suspended for awhile.

We still haven't *regained* the civil liberties we had before that War, your brilliance. Ever hear of the War Powers act?

I think we have more pressing things to worry about than if your favorite gun-show gets suspended for awhile.

MY, my... Is our agenda showing, or what?

Just don't come whining for any of us to protect YOU with our Evil Guns, should the occasion arise, okay? I'm sure you can argue any razor-blade-wielding terrorist out of slitting your throat. (And if you can't... awwww.....)

You make some great points. I heard several of the identical talking heads infer, during the hours of news coverage, that we needed more and better "intelligence" to avoid a repeat of this tragedy. I waited in vain for an alternative view, from some talking head who might mention how this horrific event reveals, once and for all, just how useless the CIA and other "intelligence" agencies are. The Cold War is over, so the only justification for the existance of a massive, secretive agency dealing with international security is the threat of terrorism. As was unfortunately proven conclusively yesterday, our gargantuan intelligence apparatus is not up to this task. One of the first ramifications from this horrible tragedy should be the abolition of the CIA, DIA, NSA, etc. We know from past revelations (which are probably only a drop in the bucket to what hasn't been revealed) that the CIA was run for decades by incredibly corrupt officials who didn't hesitate to murder when it served their nefarious purposes. They also showed, with their total failure to see the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 80s, that they really couldn't do their ostensible job very well. Their complete failure to sniff out what must have been a long brewing, well financed plot to attack some of our most visible landmarks, proves just how totally incompetent they are. My thoughts are with all the victims of this senseless tragedy and I hope cooler heads will prevail.

Not at all. I support the Second Amendment. But I get very weary of those one-issue idjits who see EVERYTHING in terms of whether or not a semi-automatic rifle is legal or not.

I'm simply stating that we have bigger fish to fry.

Don't worry, if things work out you'll get to play with a bunch of new toys on "full auto" real soon now.

Unfortunately, we've let this bozo Illbay sidetrack this discussion.

While our Second Amendment rights are critical (and at greatest immediate risk of all our constitutional freedoms), they are not the only personal liberties under fire from the leftists/socialists in this country. Already, "political correctness" (i.e., political coercion) is being wielded as a weapon against the First Amendment. And laws, regulations, and litigation are being used to codify the PC tenets of the leftists.

We can expect to see a full-scale assualt on our liberties as a result of these terrorist acts. National ID tracking (they don't need to issue ID cards anymore, now they can scan and track your face). Limitations on travel. Citizen disarmament. Restrictions on the free-exchange of information. Less legal restraint on police and federal agents. And, of course, more punative taxes to supposedly pay for our "increased security."

These are precarious times! We must not allow the future tyrants (and their willing accomplices/apologists like Illbay) to take advantage of this tragedy (or any others) to reduce, restrict, or erode our rights and personal freedoms!

The enemies outside the US are dangerous. But those within are even more so!

Well, other people haven't had their turn yet, okay? I seem to recall that "civil liberties" were greatly curtailed during World War 2, and we seemed to have gotten by just fine. Helped us win the war, in fact.

Those restrictions were "for the duration." It was clear when the restrictions were made that the restrictions would be lifted at a later time.

Yes, sometimes sacrifices must be made in wartime.

However, the new FAA security regs are "from now on," not "for the duration." These are being proposed as permanent restrictions. That is completely unacceptable. Also, there's very little evidence that any of the proposed restrictions would have protected us if they had been in place on Tuesday.

Of course, if your goal is to limit freedom, then effectiveness isn't an issue. For those of us who value freedom, effectiveness is an issue. So is the timing and conditions that will allow restrictions to be lifted.

"However, the new FAA security regs"

I'm not even referring to the FAA security regs. I'm referring to a wholsale attack on our day-to-day liberties by the leftists and socialists in this country. IF you think they are just going to stop at the airport security checkpoint, you are sadly mistaken.

Re-read my posts above for examples of how they will use these tragedies to "justify" restricting personal liberties.

"However, the new FAA security regs"

I'm not even referring to the FAA security regs. I'm referring to a wholesale attack on our day-to-day liberties by the leftists and socialists in this country. If you think they are just going to stop at the airport security checkpoint, you are sadly mistaken.

Re-read my posts above for examples of how they will use these tragedies to "justify" restricting personal liberties.

Is it because you're more concerned with how many more semi-auto weapons you can collect than the fact that we have just been attacked and may soon be at war?

I hope the likes of you can get your head out of your navel long enough to realize what is important right now.

Give up your guns if you wish, IllBay. I am keeping mine.

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