Tell me that Al Qaeda has not won

[ck4829]

The terrorists have unfortunately been victorious. Look at what fear has done to us...

* For the first time in our polling, almost half of those surveyed said they think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees. About 49 percent said it gives us too much freedom, up from 39 percent last year and 22 percent in the year 2000.

* The least popular First Amendment right is freedom of the press, with 42 percent saying the press in America has too much freedom, roughly the same level as last year.

* More than 40 percent of those polled said newspapers should not be allowed to freely criticize the U.S. military's strategy and performance.

* Roughly half of those surveyed said the American press has been too aggressive in asking government officials for information about the war on terrorism.

* More than four in 10 said they would limit the academic freedom of professors and bar criticism of government military policy.

* About half of those surveyed said government should be able to monitor religious groups in the interest of national security, even if that means infringing upon religious freedom.

* More than four in 10 said the government should have greater power to monitor the activities of Muslims living in the United States than it does other religious groups.

How has freedom won? It hasn't, that's for sure. Our freedoms are slipping down the drain, so somebody is doing a victory dance because of that, but who could it be? Perhaps Osama?

[Blind Tiresias]

1. they havent won yet...

but they certainly are winning. Gen Franks said a year ago that another major attack in the US would give the government reason to suspend the bill of rights and declare martial law. All of those numbers you cited are still minorites(albeit large and growing ones). Once this next attack goes down, then perhaps al qaeda wins.

Osama might be doing a victory dance from beyond the grave b/c he had been dead since 2001. But he clearly stated before his death that this fight would go beyond his life, and that he believed Islamic youth and ingenuity would prevail. They know it wont be easy to take us down. Even in Iraq, Al-Zarqawi has said that he expects the fight against the Americans to be a difficult one and that his fighters will take a lot of casualties, which is exactly what Bin Laden told the Saudi family about his fight against the soviets in afghanistan in the early 1980s.

[rzemanfl]

4. I think the next attack could cause things to go either way. *

"won" (and I strongly question that point) on the argument that he was protecting America from the terrorists. If the next attack shows that BushCo f***ed up as much as it did with 9/11, it might cause a mass outbreak of sanity. It sure as hell won't lead to another bout of 90% approval ratings for that idiot and his crew.

"Fool me once, shame on me duh, uh, umm, duh..."

[Blind Tiresias]

5. your faith..

in the average American is far stronger than mine. I sure hope you are right and I am dead wrong.

[rzemanfl]

7. Me too. I keep thinking back to that PIPA poll from before the

election that showed a huge gap between what people who supported * thought * was for and reality. If the poll had showed these people actually agreed with * the country would be screwed, but since they thought * agreed with THEM, there is still hope.

[rzemanfl]

2. Source? Sorry to be a pain, but I just spent time looking up

proof for another DUer that my statement that a good friend of mine was drafted into the Marines and killed was historically accurate. So I am kind of a stickler today...

[ck4829]

3. Here is one

http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=2621

[rzemanfl]

6. Thanks. Is this stuff really from 2002 and not updated? Back

then folks were still in shock from 9/11, were wearing rubber gloves to open their mail and stocking up on duct tape and plastic sheeting. I would think people have calmed down a bit by now.

[smaug]

8. Sorry, we no longer live in "America the Brave"

Sorry rzemanfl,

America the Brave has died. Watching a steady diet of Marion Morrison movies (you know, another right-winger war supporter whose 'bad' knees forced him to avoid service in WWII), Swartzenegger (he served in the Austrian army!) movies, and so on, means that FAUX toughness is vicariously enjoyed by the sheeple. They follow the BUSHEVIKs in all their criminal activities, saying that * is tough, so they don't have to be.

Terrorism is a science. It is the application of the bogeyman, 'what might happen' if 'terrorists!' (nee Islamists) were to strike at the heartland of Wyoming or Oklahoma. The BUSHEVIKs are applying the tools of terrorism to the erosion of civil liberties, and I'm adamant with my local scumbag whiny ass Rethuglicans (most of my neighbors) that they are the worst generation in American history. . . the cringing at the call of FAUX "news", whenever * needs a boost. I ridicule and mock them on whenever I see a FAUX news broadcast. Going into a local business whose running CNN or FAUX, I immediately go over and TURN OFF THE BOX, while commenting, "NAZI propaganda is treason to America." Doesn't make me popular :D.


I also very loudly excoriate the RW media in their presence . . . and when I hear a comment about the 'liberal media', I INSTANTLY counterattack and savage with logic and facts that the owners of all mass media are Newscorp, Time-Warner, Disney, and GE. Geez, I wonder if those megacorporations are liberal . . . . like that SCUM Alan Greenspan?

I didn't think so. Again, America the Brave died. There will be no eulogy.

[Make7]

9. Al Qaeda has not won. (You told me to tell you.)

ck4829 wrote:
"How has freedom won? It hasn't, that's for sure. Our freedoms are slipping down the drain, so somebody is doing a victory dance because of that, but who could it be? Perhaps Osama?"

I think you may be starting from the premise that Osama and Al Qaeda are trying to limit our freedom. They don't give a shit about our freedom - they are fighting against US foreign policy and the limits it imposes on their freedom. From that standpoint, they certainly are not winning - Osama stated that he wants the US to leave the Middle East, but the US presence is increasing.

Factor in our own eroding freedom, and it looks like we are both losing.

-Make7