"A State Of War"
Here I go again, sticking my neck out.
Better sticking out than in the sand.
There's an old joke that goes like this:
Two girl ostriches are walking along
and notice strange boy ostriches following them.
One said: "What should we do?"
and the other said: "Let's stick our heads in the sand".
So they did.
The boy ostriches said: "Where'd they go?"
That works better for ostriches than people.
And here, finally, is my point:
We can't ignore the danger of terrorists.
We can't pretend we're not in a state of war,
which has different rules from peacetime.
I've seen editorials
that warn against giving up some freedom for safety.
As far as I know nobody has threatened our:
- Freedom of speech (Unless it gives aid to an enemy in war),
- Freedom of religion (unless your interpretation of religion causes you to kill),
- The right to assemble (unless you're planning a mass murder of
Americans),
- The right to bear arms (I don't have a gun, but I want the right to get one),
- Freedom of the press,
And so on.
The only possible infringements I've heard about are:
- The right not to have your luggage searched,
- The right to rent a tanker to carry your Anthrax,
- The right to privacy when planning to kill Americans.
We can NOT let the terrorists strike again.
If our population is destroyed, where is freedom then?
During World War II, Americans temporarily gave up these freedoms:
- The freedom to keep your lights on when the Air Raid Warden said "Off",
- The freedom to drive your car. (You couldn't get gas or tires),
- The freedom to eat meat, sugar, and other rationed items,
- The right to raise rent on your property, or prices on your merchandise.
- The freedom to be a civilian,
- The right not to have somebody you love killed in battle.
It was wartime. Americans knew it, and coped.
Speaking of freedom:
How much freedom do young Americans have right this minute?
They face being drafted, or have their Guard outfits activated.
- Their lives and plans are all up in the air.
- They don't have the freedom of choice.
- They don't have freedom from fear.
It's out of their hands BECAUSE IT IS WARTIME.
In war things are different.
Speaking only for myself, which is a right I still have,
I want the cops to have every advantage in preventing more attacks.
Go ahead and bug my house, just for now, during wartime.
I'm not doing anything that would interest anybody.
If I look or act suspiciously, check me out, but only during war.
The things that Americans gave up in the 1940's,
they got back after the war.
They could have been lost forever,
had their heads been in the sand.
There was a popular war song:
"We Must Be Vigilant".
Copyright © September 30, 2001 by Jack Blanchard. All rights reserved.
