I just re-read this whole thread, and I think it's really lame that things like this can't be discussed in a civilized manner.
You know, the Americans are the only ones on this board that argue about their government. Why is that? The canadians diss their Prime Minister and nobody cares. But in America, you diss Bush and you're gauranteed to have several people jump down your throat. People need to seriously LIGHTEN UP.
D8TA's post in merely for awareness. That's it. It stresses the need to be aware of what's going on in the world and with the laws being passed. There's no question the purpose of the laws - they are to protect us from terrorism. That's not debatable. But could they ever be used against us if the definition of "terrorist" suddenly took on a different meaning? That remains to be seen. Again, something to think about, especially in times like these when our lives could change at any moment.
Some people look at things and take it at face value. If I were Arab-American, I would be especially concerned about these latest laws. Would it not be to my advantage to really ponder over these laws? Would it be wise for an Arab-AMerican to join an anti-war movement right now?
Since when was it senseless to speculate on things? It's wise to speculate on certain things - for example, would not an arab-american speculate what could possibly happen to them if another terrorist attack occured on American soil? Would it not be wise for them to be up-to-date on the current laws and happenings in this country so that they could take every precautionary measure possible to ensure their safety?
Just because I'm not Arab-American doesn't mean I shouldn't be aware of the details of these laws either. Whether or not these laws end up to our disadvantage in any way remains to be seen, as D8TA CLEARLY stated more than once. The fact remains that the government now has power to monitor our lives a lot more closely than before these laws were passed. Granted, as long as we're not involved in terrorist activity, we'll probably have nothing to worry about. This remains to be seen.
If you don't think there is anything to concern yourself with, then don't. But some people think it's to their advantage to consider possible under-lying meanings behind things, and they, as an American, have that right. I don't understand why some people think everything is so cut and dry - how they say they don't trust politicians but adhere and believe everything they tell us. But...whatever...some things are not meant to understand.
Farkel, since I'm evidently the young pup you were referring to, maybe you can enlighten me as to what exactly your age and wisdom knows that I'm unable to understand.