"DougS" wrote in
news:OaudnasLKOUmOT7bnZ2dnUVZ_gKdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com:

This, IMHO, is bull****. Not your statement, but the fact that
"National Security" can call off the rule of law unilaterally. If *I*
as a citizen were to kill someone and claim "National Security," the
cops would laugh at me all to way to the jail g

And yet if you actually took out Osama or one of his 52 pickup face cards,
and were able to prove it, you would quickly be released as a national
hero. They'd probably even name a holiday after you.

People have turned a blind eye to rule-breaking in the name of protecting
the "greater good" for a very long time. It is only the recent blatant
abuse of this privilege by the current administration that has made the
entire world cynical about it, and has eradicated the trust in our country
and what it stands for by its own people and world population. So now, you
can claim, like everyone else who cries wolf, that you have behaved in the
best interests of National Security or the Greater Good. But it's so played
out that no one buys that load of crap anymore.


At one time in history, America was admired as a country that stood for
courage, integrity, dignity, and true democracy, even in the face of
terror, war (won or lost), and economic despair.

Our current president, and the 2 presidents before him, have effectively
turned this country into the punchline of a very bad ethnic joke.

Maybe I am wrong, because I am too young to remember personally, but I
don't think anyone ever questioned the _integrity_ of our entry into the
Vietnam war, even though many people objected to it. And when we left, we
still maintained a decorum of respect, instead of being laughing stocks and
depicted as wild, stupid, corrupt cowboys.

No one remembers the Depression as a time when the government manipulated
the country to eliminate the middle class and further separate the rich
from the poor. Instead, the government established public services
specifically to help the poor and prevent a recurrence. There was nothing
to Fear but Fear itself...

This country has gone through many tough times in its relatively short
history. But in our pursuit of Freedom and its protection, it always seemed
as though "Right beat Might", and in the end, and we were remembered in
history for our integrity and dignity, as we progressed further forward as
a world power.

Our Great Presidents were able to move worlds with just a few words and
their own passion, integrity, and respectability.

We desperately need a Great President.

I can't say how we will be remembered in history, but I don't think it will
match our model through time till now...