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Date Posted: 15:07:03 03/26/03 Wed
Author: Perceptor II
Subject: Responses
In reply to: FawnDoo 's message, ""Beacon of Freedom"? Come on......." on 10:41:07 03/24/03 Mon

What next? Dubya possessed of the "power cosmic" and sailing off on a silver surfboard?

I think NASA might be working on this. :p


As for George Bush being the US President - well, he was sworn in, but there are a lot of black and hispanic voters in Florida who were banned from voting on election day who might have an issue with that one :-)

You know, there were plenty of investigations into those claims, and no proof could be found. It's possible that this happened and just no proof was found, but it's more likely that a lot of first time black and Hispanic voters had some difficulties with the voting process and some Democrats, specifically those of a more extremist bent who tend to believe that all Republicans are racists, blew them way out of proportion.

President Bush seems to approach foreign policy with the same "if you're not for us, you're against us" polarized attitude. One wonders what will happen should he ever be forced to work with a country like Switzerland which is constitutionally neutral. :-D

One must point out that Bush meant that statement to be in the context of the war against terrorism (of which only a small portion involves military action), in that countries can't sit by and do nothing. One could also point out that Bush wasn't the first to voice that sentiment. That credit goes to Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York and wife of former President Bill Clinton. In any case, it does seem that the Bush administration is still treating Germany and France as allies, allies that they're not totally happy with, but allies nonetheless and certain not enemies.

Pardon me for being brusque here, but boo-bloody-hoo. My heart bleeds. The US is verbally attacked - newsflash people, so is pretty much every other nation in the world for a whole variety of reasons. You think the British are universally loved? The French? Spanish? Australians?

Oh come on! Everyone loves Australians! Just look at how everyone loves Goktimus! :p (Sorry, couldn't resist :-D).

Not if your own citizens organise boycotts of American celebrities because those celebrities have anti-war views. Not when American websites like GIJargon.com have banners saying "Declare jihad on Sean Penn" on them. Not as long as someone who disagrees too strongly goes from "disagreeing friend" to "enemy" in the eyes of even one of your citizens. Not when one of your own citizens attacks another at a Rodeo for not standing for a patriotic country and western song. Not when such vitriol is directed against an institution you helped found when its members express contary opinions.

Pardon me, but I have severe problems with this view. In a "free country", no one can tell you what to buy or what entertainment to partake in. The same First Amendment that protects the speech of Martin Sheen also protects GIJargon.com. Labelling people who have contrary opinions as "enemies" and "traitors", as distasteful as it is, is protected free speech. When someone physically attacks another, that's different. That's a crime, and should be punished. Likewise, when war protestors block traffic or destroy property, they are also guilty of crimes that should be punished as appropriate. But when it's just speech, that's protected. I have to consider the above view as anti-free speech, not pro.

However, it is not without its faults - the main one of which in these modern times is not knowing who its friends are, and not knowing where to draw the line between "they disagree with me" and "they are my enemy". Beacon of freedom? No, not yet. Not when some of your own citizens (again I refer to celebrities) are being threatened with boycott and job losses for expressing a contrary opinion to the point where the Screen Actor's Guild has to make a clear statement that "never again will the blacklist operate in this nation." Beware the enemy that becomes thyself, isn't that how it goes?

Every country has its share of, for lack of a better term, dorks. Still, dorks have a right to free speech as well. The right to free speech protects you from being harassed or jailed by authorities for expressing an opinion, but it shouldn't protect you from criticism.

A nation without friends? No. Even the French like you. :-D

Actually, while France is still an ally, it's also one of the worst countries in terms of anti-American hate. Witness the treatment many French cycling fans give Lance Armstrong every year during the Tour de France.

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