From Pat:
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...it's time to grow up and face the fact that there's no perfect answer, whichever side of each issue you come down on and someone is liable to pay an unfair and unjust price for each decision that's made, either way.
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That's what I've got--growing pains. It makes my head hurt. Pat, you really nailed a lot of this and "gave me furiously to think." I probably have lots of company in my simplistic, fantastic wish that they could revoke the civil rights of all terrorists and magically leave everyone else's intact. But then it all goes to definition, and <u>who</u> defines "terrorists" and identifies who is a terrorist.

One part of the growing pains for me is that I'm having to come out of the cave and quit being lazy and pay attention. Shake off the lethargy. All this real-world, whole-world change means a real system challenge for us. We need the justice department to be able to get the information they need to get the terrorists. We also need the aclu et al. to challenge the justice dept. when bounds are overstepped and help keep the solution specific to the problem.

I guess I'm afraid, too, that the last is going to be a very unpopular idea with the general population, like it was in the 50s and 60s, and that was such an ugly time in some places. Interesting, but sometimes ugly. Surely we've grown up some as a people. (?)

Except for the Washington Post, few mainstream news outlets are covering the civil rights aspects of the war or the changes in our govenment since the attacks. Nathen, I worry that most people don't know about the changes W has been making. If they don't know, they can't care and they can't act.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Ceashel:

Nathen, I worry that most people don't know about the changes W has been making. If they don't know, they can't care and they can't act.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's where fellow Texan and Arlo's longtime friend, Jim Hightower
comes in. No one in America today delivers a motivated speech like Jim Hightower, bringing home a hard-hitting, tell-it-like-it-is political message, yet keeping his audience doubled-up with laughter. In the tradition of Mark Twain, Will Rogers and Woody Guthrie, he skewers the Powers To Be on behalf of the Powers That Ought To Be.... America's workaday folks!

Amazingly, Hightower, a real person, actually held state office before the <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/alien2.gif" width=15 height=17>s took over. He's wonderful. Great link; thanks, Levi.

I've always loved reading & hearing Hightower. his "populist" approach strikes many cords, with me.
.not awake yet, I drove 12 hours yesterday, from san diego, to here in Mendocino county, so I still have "pontiac-lag" .......more soon <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/lookout.gif" width=15 height=15>