WD wrote:

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 17:49:37 GMT, "Mike Hide" wrote:

Mike, please reply with short answers (I falls asleep if long winded...Blah,
blah, blah...)


No one likes the patriot act per se on the other hand it gives some
protection .Without it the next hit might well be 30,000 and not 3000 plus
. I suppose some people just don't get it do they .....mjh


Thank goodness we do think alike, you too dislike the Patriot Act? Do you think
anything could be done beside the Patriot Act to preserve our freedom and
security?

Do you think we should reexamine our self, to find out why there are so many
people outside the US dislike us so much that some are willing to sacrificing
their lives to destroy us?

Not really. Freedom has always had enemies. The US has made all manner
of silly misteps starting with TR's idiotic moves to make us a global
player. But our mistakes pale by comparison to our virtues. As an
immigrant to this country, I am constantly astounded by: a) How very
little of our own history my fellow-citizens actually know and
b) What a ridiculous amount of self-incrimnation and self-loathing
Americans indulge in.

There is no "understanding" why people like Bin Laden don't like us.
He is a psychopath and murdering monster in the same league as Hitler,
Stalin, Pol Pot, Carlos The Jackal, Pablo Escobar, and all the rest of
the murderers of history.

Furthermore, you need to grasp that "so many" do not hate the US.
It's just that the ones that do hate us end up on TV every night -
in fact, a few of them work for the networks. In actual fact, the
US was and remains a beacon of hope for most of the world. That's
why everyone wants to come here. Yes, we've made mistakes and annoyed
people in other countries. Yes, we should learn from them. But
we're not going to learn anything useful if we don't contextualize
those mistakes in light of the many, many really good things we've
done over the years as well. Bear in mind ... we're among the very
few nations that sacrifies the lives of our military so that _others_
can know freedom, that drop bombs and humanitarian aid on the same day
over the same targets, that take extra military casualties in the name
of minimizing civilian deaths in wartime, that send money to virtually
every troublespot in the world, that fund the lion's share of international
courts of debate like the UN .... The list is endless.

I'm an immigrant. When I say "America is the greatest country in all of
human history" it's based at least somewhat in having lived elswhere and
seen some of the alternatives. They don't like us? Screw 'em. IMNSHO
the US should materially withdraw from the rest of the world for 10 years
or so and just concentrate on our own interests and self-defense while
maintaining commercial relationships with everyone else. Then the world
would see just how much they lost in the deal ...


If we could find that billion dollars answer we not only improve ours, but also
others freedom and security at minimum cost, right?



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Tim Daneliuk
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