Topic: War On Terror
Tear Down This Wall! Walla are not just for keeping people out. They are also for keeping people in Today 1 in 100 U.S. adults are in prison. Are we going for 100%by rtbohan
(libertarian)
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Twemty-one years ago today, June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan stood in from of the wall which divided the city of Berlin and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. The people of the United States cheered for that speech, and cheered again a little more than a year and a half later when the wall came down. I think Reagan's speech needs to be repeated for President Bush and the current crop of presidential candidates.
Some voters and candidates from across the political spectrum--Left, Right, Center, even Libertarian--have been swept up in our latest war against immigrants. I favor largely open borders myself. But I understand the worry about unemployment and lower wages, possible crime and change in culture and the fear of terrorists which motivate those who want to close our borders. But I do not understand the enthusiasm for raiding our already bare treasury to build a walls on our northern and southern borders, possibly to be extended along our coasts. Certainly there should be better control of the border than currently exists. But the building of a wall is both a confession of weakness and a form of slavery.
Is it not clear that the government is instilling fear in the nation to justify an ever greater restriction of the liberties, not of other nations but of our citizens? Using the pretext of the Global War on Terror, the federal government has passed laws allowing spying on Ameican citizens, secret arrests and trials in secret before anonymous judges in secret courts. It has created the Real I.D., which is an internal passport so that the government can track (or prevent) all travel of our citizens. The government is planning to limit further the amount of moncy citizens can have in their possession. The Democrats, if they win the election are planning to introduce a National Service program to control the young, and make them more available to be put into military service as well. The Republicans are talking about the need for a military build up.
The wall which is being built will not stop immigration, illegal or not. The wall will certainly not prevent terrorist attacks which do not depend on foreign agents, or even political motivation, to happen. What they will do is further restrict the freedom of American citizens, as almost all of the measures taken and contemplated are intended to do.
Liberty is too important to be given up for an illusory safety.
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