You're right about Germany and Russia of the 1940's being different from the USA of today. And we'd like to keep it that way. Ergo, the very low tolerance for the kind of constitutional disregard that's going on.
Something else to keep in mind; unlike nearly every other country in the world, the US does not have a single, coherent, cultural, ethnic, or religious identity. There are dominant groups, to be sure, but none entirely so. This is a pluralistic country. There's an inherent fragility to that which demands increased respect for the law, given the absence of deep unifying tradition.
And when it comes to cancer, a tumor is deadly from the moment it appears. The sooner it's removed the better, otherwise it really will get out of hand. By American standards, what's happening is bad. Those standards may be tighter than standards elsewhere, but relative to the country it's a real shock. Plenty of intelligent people are really taken aback by the response to 9/11, which, in retrospect, has been vastly more damaging to the country than anything Bin Laden did directly.
Unlike Bin Laden, the people who are pushing for a total surveillance state are not dead. Nor are they retreating. And yes, what they are building is evil. Not because of anything that it's being used for presently, but for what it represents, in that it marks a shift from a government that is bound by the law to one that isn't, and simply asks that you trust it not to abuse its now-unchecked liberty. That is the precise opposite of what our Framers intended. To date, respect for that principle has spared us from a great deal of misery.
On this, we may disagree. But I appreciate your thoughtful reply. And I apologize for my personal remarks.
Something else to keep in mind; unlike nearly every other country in the world, the US does not have a single, coherent, cultural, ethnic, or religious identity. There are dominant groups, to be sure, but none entirely so. This is a pluralistic country. There's an inherent fragility to that which demands increased respect for the law, given the absence of deep unifying tradition.
And when it comes to cancer, a tumor is deadly from the moment it appears. The sooner it's removed the better, otherwise it really will get out of hand. By American standards, what's happening is bad. Those standards may be tighter than standards elsewhere, but relative to the country it's a real shock. Plenty of intelligent people are really taken aback by the response to 9/11, which, in retrospect, has been vastly more damaging to the country than anything Bin Laden did directly.
Unlike Bin Laden, the people who are pushing for a total surveillance state are not dead. Nor are they retreating. And yes, what they are building is evil. Not because of anything that it's being used for presently, but for what it represents, in that it marks a shift from a government that is bound by the law to one that isn't, and simply asks that you trust it not to abuse its now-unchecked liberty. That is the precise opposite of what our Framers intended. To date, respect for that principle has spared us from a great deal of misery.
On this, we may disagree. But I appreciate your thoughtful reply. And I apologize for my personal remarks.