On returning to the news...
So when did the Republican party turn into a bunch of pussies?
If Bush did such a great job securing our borders and fighting terrrrism* abroad, why is the right in this country still so obsessed with Islamic terrrrists? Can't we find a better replacement for the commies? Is our concept of security really that fucked up?
We might be able to put national security into perspective by comparing it to something much smaller--the security required for a business. One of the principles of security is an understanding its cost. For example, if you're opening a store and are limited to $50,000, you're not going to spend $40k of it on security. You'll weigh the risks and the costs and determine just how much security you'll need. Some stores rely only on the clerks, others cameras and security tags, and still others with armed guards. It hardly makes sense to hire an armed guard for a rural gas station, just as it doesn't make sense to build a bank without security cameras.
Unlike the store or bank, we have other things in addition to money to consider. We have a degree of freedom and privacy in this country that can be traded for security. We can also invest American lives in war. The question then becomes how much money, freedom, privacy and how many lives are we willing to sacrifice for security?
Lately, the Republicans have been outsacrificing the Democrats. The caricature of the fearful and bureaucratic police-state Democrat once touted by libertarians and the right is now the perfect resemblance of the post 9/11 Republican. Now, Fox News tells me that anyone who doesn't join in the hysterical response to backwards religious fanatics (excluding fundamentalist Christians) is a traitor. I'm also told that leftists are spineless and incapable of fighting terrrrism because they don't look under their beds for ay-rabs. We're just not afraid enough.
Of course, the Dems are not without sin. They're far more terrified of public approval ratings than the Republicans are of the terrrrrrists.
*This is the phonetic spelling of the Bush's pronunciation of terror and terrorists. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.