Freedom to Criticise

In My Humble Opinion
1

I was in my teens during the Gulf War, but I remember the feeling of “forced patriotism.” It wasn’t enough to love your country and want America to win, you also had to “support the President” and it was really difficult to disagree with something the President or the government did because that was thought of as being unpatriotic. Simply disagreeing with something was equated to disrespecting the soldiers (the way people did towards the vietnam vets) even if the person was just talking about politicians, not the military.

I don’t want that to happen again, but it is already. I don’t quite believe that Air Force 1 was a target, I think the President’s team is twisting the truth a bit on that to take our attention away from his embarassing hopscotch across the country on Tuesday. I also think that his speeches have been disappointing, and I wish that we had a war hero like Dole or McCain as our leader right now. Or someone like Giuliani who has done a good job in this tragedy. It’s difficult to say that, even here, without being told that I shouldn’t doubt our President at a time like this. The President isn’t a soldier though, but my boyfriend or brother might have to be if Bush makes the wrong decisions. Why does the President get to wrap himself up in the flag, shouldn’t that sort of unthinking respect be reserved for people who will actually have to risk their lives. If we’re going to war, I want to hear the same honest political debate that would be normal for other issues. I’m really scared that we’ve elected the wrong leader and are going to wind up in World War 3, fought on our soil.

2

Amen… I simply stated it was our fault for being a target to my parents and I was all the sudden the terrorists them selves. Explicative knee jerk reactions like that are going to cause our country to lose freedom so the masses can feel a little more secure. I hear the Senate just passed carnivore…

3

Ariadne, here’s the problem with your freedom to criticize - it’s based on opinion, not fact. So you think the president was in no danger, hmm? Based on? I seriously doubt an average Joe will ever truly know what was going on during that day, and it’s reasonable to presume that our Secret Service is less than forthcoming in detailing threats against the president. And, by the way, taking precautions is a wise move, regardless of the eventuality. Or would you prefer he just put himself in the line of fire?
And as for the war heroes Dole and McCain, I’m sorry, I had to laugh. Has it occured to you that they were heroes because of actions taken during, not before war? In other words, they weren’t war heroes until they went to war.
Sheesh. I don’t mind people questioning the actions of our government, but why does everyone assume the information presented by the media is ever complete and accurate? Everything CNN tells you, they’re telling potential enemies as well.

4

Did we really elect the wrong leader? I say not. Would anyone feel better with Gore at the helm right now? At least Bush has a sense of personal warmth. Can you imagine Gore trying to rally the country? Bush’s speeches have been limited but that scene with him on the rubble with the firefighters came off VERY well. That’s Bush’s strength. Off the cuff (seemingly) remarks to people. Put a podium in front of him and he is adequate but not inspiring. I’ve noticed that lately he is just talking to the people and not giving many more formal speeches.

I still find myself wondering how Clinton would have handled this. He was as good as Bush at “reaching out” and better than just about anyone (Reagan is his only modern peer) at giving “the big speech.” I think of all the people that could be at the helm, Reagan or Clinton would have been the best. Bush will get the job done, though.

5

Actually, right now, I don’t feel Bush as being warm, but the exact opposite. Of course, that could just be that he is in shock, and very upset as well.

I’d say the best speeches so far have been Bush Sr, Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld.

6

Of course no one knows the facts but you do get feelings that are legitimate.

For goodness sake we still are debating whether or not FDR knew the Japanese were going to bomb Pearl Harbour.

And some people are very poor at getting points across.

From my point of view…The attacks were very symbolic. I find it very hard to believe that Bush in Florida HAD to be routed thru Nebraska. Why wasn’t he in NYC. Churchill was in the bombing in WWII so were the Queen and King. Even Hitler stayed.

When Bush went on TV he made it sound like he had NO CHOICE. This opens doubt. Come on he couldn’t have said I’m going to NYC fly me now and they wouldn’t have. All airline traffic had stopped. He had the entire airforce at his disposal to escort him back to DC or NYC.

What is true we will never know but he is making it appear so.

I as the system admin of my company took a lot of heat for telling people STOP sending prayers to everyone via our email. Many people aren’t Christians and it offends them. Same with flags, we have Jehovah Witnesses and other groups that don’t celebrate the flag. We had to lay people off because of this and now we are going to open our selves up to a lawsuit just because we DON’T want to be unpopular. Having your rights trampled is no reason to be insensitive to others.

Like when I was 16 I lost my mother.(my father died when I was 11) My brother and sister were 26 and 28 respectively. They were a mess. So I had to be the one to go pick out the casket, to plan the funeral etc. Later on I got critized by them for spending too much money. But hey you know what I can’t let ma sit on ice for 2 weeks till you feel better.

Remember this tragedy is effecting people in differnt ways. And believe it or not it doesn’t effect some at all.

I am more concerned about the gang bangers running my neighborhood then a terrorist strike.

But then again some people are not as strong as others in all areas.

It is all about having a sense of balance. I mean it is one thing to address issues on a public forum designed for that and it is another to target and individual.

For instance I critise Bush and whether I am right or wrong is an opinion. But I would NEVER do that to a fireman or cop who was working on the front line.

You see the differnce it is one thing to critise the administration and another to attack the individual worker of that administration.

Some people have a hard time seperatating the two.