Patrick Henry, founding father: "Give me liberty, or give me death!" (March 23, 1773)
Sen. John Roberts, modern progeny: "You have no civil liberties if you are dead." (May 18, 2006)
Such progress is inspiring, no?
No. Read Henry's whole speech here, and contemplate the past, and guess at your future. And ask yourself this question: Would you rather risk death while living in freedom, or have a long life living without it?
Add this question to it: Terrorism is nothing new, whatever the Bush Cabal may say about this being a "new kind of war". Has the loss of civil liberties helped any other countries keep safe from terrorists?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Thanks for the comment, yo. I know I'm young, but most of my friends are MUCH older so I like to think of myself having a mind of an adult. (In fact, I've been mistaken for being twenty. Pretty flattering.)
Oh well, I don't really contemplate suicide anymore. It was just a phase, but it f***** scared me, you know?
It ought to.
When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.
And wave your arms around. A lot. It helps, it really does.
I loved the juxtaposition of those two quotes. And I hadn't thought of Roberts' comment in context with Patrick Henry. At the time I heard Roberts' statement, I thought how utterly stupid and pandering to the far right empty headed yahoos it was. How far we have come, indeed!
Exactly. The frightening thing for me (that I actually think about regularly) is how few people know the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. And there's a reason for that: the politicians really don't want people to be familiar with that. If we were more concerned about our rights and had more knowlege of history, George Bush would be impeached by now. Instead, they're whittling away at our rights, one at a time.
This isn't a new kind of war, it isn't a war at all. This is a bunch of scaredy cat shitheels who so fear terror they play right into the bastards' hands.
War will not make the terrorists go away. We will not ever be completely safe from them, just as we are never completely safe from lightning strikes, car accidents, or common colds.
If we hand away our liberties for a cheap, faux feeling of security we will have done nothing more than make it easier to attack us, because it shows weakness and that's the worse thing you can do with a bully.
So if anyone tries to take my liberties away, they'll know the meaning of war, because that is exactly what I'll give 'em.
Patrick may have been a failure at just about everything he ever took on in life, but uttering those few important words wipes ouot every last failure if you ask me.
Just sayin...
No, it's definitely not a War. But then, is anything the Bush Administration says true? Anything at all?
I agree with you on the liberty thing, Poobah. Henry had it right. I suspect if the BushCo has any designs beyond election-rigging and October Surprises, they may find that a lot of people feel that way.
Russia, where spying and wiretapping are just a part of the daily milieu, is a perfect example of how surveillance and safety do not go hand in hand.
Post a Comment