Date: Sat, 06 Oct 2001 04:19:27 -0500
Subject: Re: Different approach to terrorist threat


Hugh wrote:

"The government we have is our only weapon, we must support it."

Hugh:

Government is such a big word.  Perhaps, the rest of us in our ignorance
are simply not understanding precisely what you mean.

In the wake of 9/11, our beloved politicians have, with their vast
expertise and years of experience, made a number of proposals to help
increase our weal, wellbeing and sense of security in this nation.  So,
in the interests of clarification, I would ask you if you could be
slightly more specific.  In supporting government do you mean we should:

1. Encourage the media to practice greater self-censorship and refrain
from criticism.
2. Curtail the bill of rights in the name of greater security.
3. Mandate racial profiling.
4. Practice British style detainment and questioning of individuals
without regard to their civil rights.
5. Sign into law the President's full tax cut package, eliminating the
current provision that still makes future periods optional.
6. Roll back the capital gains tax.
7. Endorse the "givings" provisions currently found in the NAFTA
agreement, so that in the future when laws such as those regulating the
environment are passed, corporations must be compensated for the loss of
any future revenue.
8. Implement SDI as our best protection against terrorism.
9. Pass a constitutional amendment for prayer in the schools and banning
gay marriage in order to create a spiritual SDI as our best protection
against terrorism.
10. Support our military, regardless of where they go or what they do
because we recognize in our hearts that they are protecting all of us
and not just the corporate interests, as those potential terrorists now
in prison (see #2) once falsely said.
11.  All of the above.

Perhaps, if we can come together to reach agreement on what constitutes
government, consensus may be more easily reached.  If this consensus
cannot be reached, then those nay-saying nabobs should simply remain
silent in order to promote our greater national unity. Silence is the
best support this nation has in its continuing fight against terrorism. 
As my mother once said: "If you can't say anything nice about a person,
don't say anything at all."  

Today, that person is our government, over which our dear President,
like a kind-hearted big brother looks out for all of us, regardless of
their race, color or creed, in these troubled times. As Leonard Peikoff,
a fellow libertarian like Harry Browne, has put it, anyone who
criticizes the government right now is really advocating treason.  

When the building is burning down, freedom and democracy are simply
luxuries we must sacrifice in order to maintain the high level of
civilization and open, plural society we have achieved. Just as they
don't let homeless people inside Trump Towers, so we shouldn't let any
terrorists inside America. Anyone who says otherwise is simply
practicing a form of doublethink and godless atheism.

I'd write more, but I have to leave now to attend the Young Republican's
prayer breakfast meeting and investment club this morning. God bless
America.  

eric