Where is the line?

You know what, I am afraid of a new terrorist attack on US soil, that is why I am very much against the military build up around Iraq. You know who many of those fighters are? Reservists who would otherwise be here protecting me as police and firefighters and healing me as doctors.

AU:

A word to the wise:

"You have nothing to fear, but fear itself".

I don't fear, fear. I'm not afraid of anthing or anyone. I'm gutsy, like all the folks who are my guts- enriched relatives.

If the terrorists should attempt an attack on America and Americans, I think we can handle it. Doesn't Israel cope well with the same problem.

Fear is "an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger b (1) : an instance of this emotion (2) : a state marked by this emotion."

Hi trespassers will,

Your straw man is lovely, but I didn't put him there. I am merely asking questions. It's this thing I do with my friends, when a thought occcurs. Often they help me come to some conclusions. Often the discussions are philosophical and many would say "pointless", but ultimately interesting and even valuable.

I'm an eminently rational person (people always tell me I'm a prototypical Capricorn, to which I reply, "eh, astrology isn't rational" ) and my fears re: Bush are the result of lots of careful research and thought. I'm not really interested in debating whether those fears are irrational, as I find the position of "No, we have nothing to fear from the Bush administration" to be untenable. If that's unsatisfactory to you, that's fine, and thanks for stopping by.

Sozobe
You're right. I was not suggesting that Bush will invade Canada.

Steissed
Everything about Bush makes me nervious because whatever effects the US effects us here in Canada as well. Bush has also asked for help from Canada in his wars such as Afghanistan and we lost 4 of our people to trigger happy US pilots . I don't even blame the pilots in full because they were not informed of the situation on the ground as they should have been. Then we were asked for support in the Iraq war to come. Thankfully our Prime minister was smart enough to stay out of that one, but I still shiver everytime Bush starts talking war because it could very possibly effect us as well in a big way. War isn't what it use to be. We are talking about chemical warfare here, which has no borders. You said that Bush was " Mentally sane ", well, I beg to differ. I think the man is a power hungry, bully, vindicive nutcase!!! I can see your reasoning for backing Bush because you are in a country where he is backing you, but you surely don't see things from our end of the world, so I don't expect you to understand my opinion.

By the way, I am also afraid for the friends I left behind in the US.

Americans are a tough and gutsy breed. Have no fear.

We'll carry on..........One way or THE OTHER!

sozobe - After consideration I can see that my comments were out of line. The fact that I don't find your question useful doesn't mean it is not useful to you and others. I apologize for my comments. I would welcome an opportunity to discuss the specifics with you in another discussion.

Regards,
TW

I think it IS an interesting question, Sozobe - and one which, as you say, crosses international boundaries.

For instance, the USA's decision not to sign Kyoto affects everyone - (including emboldening my own government not to do so), as the USA right goes on abortion, so go the little anti-abortion groups in my own country, whose rhetoric and actions slavishly follow those of their big siblings in the USA - oh, and we have troops heading for Iraq as we speak.

The problem is, the line is so subjective - for many of us, it has already been crossed - the "pre-emptive strike", the constant talk of vague proof of this and that, which never appears, the homeland security measures - for many it has not even been approached.

This kind of debate is by no means confined to politics - for instance, in professions, where do little ethical blurrinesses become reason for disciplinary action, or disbarring? When do mistakes stop being normal human error and become incompetence?

The difficulties of such debates do not, in my view, make them foolish.

Well spoken, Trespassers Will!

Ditto from Boston!

...and Chicago, too!

In terms of issues, you can see my opinions scattered around the boards -- Roe vs. Wade, affirmative action, Iraq, etc., etc.

Dlowan, lots of good points that I want to get back to.

We had the Great Engineer, now we have the Great Salesman.

Well, great to those gullible enough to swallow the pitch.

Hook, line and sinker!

So far he's used every sales technique in the book and he didn't learn all of the at Harvard Business -- they're street wise, car salesman approaches and the hard sell. Getting someone into a closed room and then by flaunting the law of attrition, wearing them down until their ready to buy. Trouble is, I've noticed he picks the wrong time to ask for the money -- he assumes a sale, one of the worst things a great salesman would not do.

He is Rove smart!!!!!!!

No matter what one thinks of Cheney, he's a very smart man -- very methodical and definitely not impulsive. Rove is the marketing man, but if he approached me at Sears to sell me a refridgerator, he'd run up against a formidable problem selling me anything but a new crisper drawer.

It seems to me there may be several 'lines' at question here for many people, and that the cumulative of them gives each a bit more wallop, and may be why sozobe and others have a growing concern.

Religion...there is easily room to make the argument that separation of church and state is jeopardized, certainly more than at any time in my adult life.

Foreign Policy...the twin policies of hegemony and pre-emption are both new precedents.

Civil Liberties...what is now being allowed and deemed necessary to fight 'terrorism' is a growing incursion into rights of accused and into privacy issues.

Balance of Powers...the moves to influence the judiciary via philosophically aligned appointments and the Supreme Court's handling of the election are troubling.

Serving Whom?...the ties of this administrations' personnel to the business community (particularly energy) and to a very wealthy minority has been argued to have real dangers to representative democracy.

Someone, blow the whistle on Bush's excessive secrecy

By Pat M. Holt

WASHINGTON – It is time for Congress or the courts to blow the whistle on the Bush administration's excessive secrecy. The secrecy is especially pernicious when set in the context of the administration's proclivity to spin. "Spin" is the fashionable word. "Twist," "distort," "deceive," or "cover up" would be more forthright.

http://csmonitor.com/2003/0206/p09s02-coop.html