A date that will live in INFAMY (when was that again?)
My television dutifully broadcast the soundbite from Karl Rove, that their opponents have a "pre-911" mentality and they have a "post-911" mentality. As one belonging to the camp of the former, I would say that is correct. What I would add is that such a perspective carries with it the benefit of centuries of human history. As we were recently reminded by some brave college students, good ol' Ben Franklin once said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." The goal of those in charge is to create an Imperial Presidency, above any checks and balances, on the pretext of national security. It is certainly no secret that I was there in the '70s, and I witnessed the spectacular unravelling of a presidency as Nixon went down. I heard the exact same excuses for everything he wanted to do. It might also be noted that the same guys were working their way up the power ladder (Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al), and the same kinds of things were objectionable back then, spying on us and so on. Also please note that we are asked to give up our liberties because there is a war going on... let's be clear, there's ALWAYS a war going on. If there is not a military conflict to point to, they will set up a temporary war (on poverty, drugs, illiteracy, three-legged dogs, whatever) until something comes along to get a good military conflict going. Then that "post 911" mentality is right at home. I hate to say it, but someday that war cry will be as quaint as "Remember the Alamo!" but right now it serves the political purpose.

In other news, who would have thunk that some cartoons could cause such a hub bub? I think that illustrates my point to some extent. Why do we object to the government chipping away at our liberties? Because it's about the free expression of ideas. I have no doubt that there are those who might get fighting mad because I drew Bush in a cowboy hat. It shows disrespect maybe, but I still can because I don't have to walk in lock-step behind the Administration (neener neener). Of course, it's possible that I could be locked up somewhere or sent to another country to have all kinds of dreadful things done to me, and have to stay there for the rest of my life, and not be told what crime I'm accused of, and not get to talk to a lawyer to help me out, etc. It probably won't happen because I wasn't born over yonder and I don't wear a turban and so on, but still.

So let's all try to be nice to each other. Don't blow yourself up in a restaurant. Don't shoot a bunch of people at the office where you got fired. Don't load a car up with explosives. Don't kidnap people, and especially don't kidnap them and cut their heads off. Don't invade the country of your choice. Don't make a mushroom cloud anywhere. Instead, draw more cartoons -- that REALLY pisses people off!