There's More to Life Than Patriots and Villains

"George Bush is shredding the Constitution." That's another one I hear quite frequently. I mean, talk about at least some border-line hyperbole. It's not like he's putting HIS people in internment camps (F.D.R., anybody?) or suspending the writ of Habeus Corpus to actual Americans (Honest Abe, anybody?). Couple that, of course, with the fact that if we ever did have the misfortune of being "hit" again, a lot of those same people would be asking the President, "so, why didn't you do MORE to stop it?".......................................Look, folks, truth in advertising, I don't particularly care for President Bush. I think his foreign-policy, in particular, has been a disaster. I'll even admit to the fact that some of these "anti-terror" measures have as well been troubling (warrantless wire-taps, holding people indefinitely, etc.)........................................BUT, having said that , don't you think we just might need a jolt of perspective here? For instance, yeah, we're spying on Americans, folks, but only on those Americans who are commiserating with foreign thugs. I mean, it's not like they're focusing in on Aunt Betty or anything. And even though the thought of holding those Guantanamo chumps in perpetuity is a shaky proposition, the thought of some mushy-minded American judge sorting through the rubble is as well frightening (though, yes, it may in fact be ultimately necessary). Bottom-line, folks, we're kind of in a lose-lose situation here. It should be very interesting to see what Senator Obama does when/if he stands to inherit it...........................................P.S. It should also be noted that the "Patriot Act", when it passed back in '02, it passed 99-1 (the late, courageous Paul Wellstone, the only dissenter). I mean, granted, Bush has no doubt pushed the envelope since then but the over-all mind-set, I'm saying, was in fact developed in a bipartisan manner. Actually, folks, Anthony Romero of the A.C.L.U. has himself stated that a good deal of the C.I.A. power-grab started (drum-roll, please) under President Clinton. Not that the partisans on the left will ever admit to that, of course.