The Need for Security Does Not Equate to Paranoia

I recently saw a couple of episodes of Law and Order on the TV and they were about vigilantism and the war on terror. One episode was about a mentally ill boy who killed Muslims and the other was about the Freemen. The shows got me thinking, it is very important for a society in a time of War to preserve freedom because it is hard to win it back once it is offered away. After the London train bombings a Brazilian Boy was killed by the police in what may have been a terrible mistake. The pseudo intellectuals in the media are very good a pointing to the overt threats to freedom posed by those who are charged with protecting us but they rarely identify other threats.

Yesterday I woke up and since 9/11 my routine has changed. I am a securities analyst and now I have to check the various cable news outlets for terrorist events that will move markets. (Before 9/11 I never had to do that, today its standard operating procedure) After taking a shower with water that has been monitored by over a dozen government agencies, I walked down Park Avenue to the Subway Station. Before getting on the subway my bag was checked by the NYPD (a direct outcome from this summer's London Bombings). I got on the local train and did not transfer at 14st partly to avoid a subway station that is frequently cited as a high value target (an outcome of the Madrid bombings). After getting off the train on Wall Street, I walked past several rings of security. The security on Wall Street includes private guards with bomb sniffing dogs, police officers, truck bomb barriers and Swat Teams fully armed with M-4 assault rifles complete with grenade launchers (an outcome of 9/11). On my way into my office I have to pass several vehicle barriers (an outcome of the African Embassy Bombings). When I start work I have to make sure all my emails are saved and telephone conversations are recorded so that SEC can monitor my every move as a securities analyst (an outcome of the Enron failure which was instigated by the financial collapse following 9/11)

So as you can see, if you live in NYC and your are a middle class professional your civil rights are violated every day and cumulatively the cost is great. I think its high time for the media to stop insulting the intelligence of the American people and wake up am smell the coffee or in the New York Time's case Organic Herbal Tea. The US is offering rights to Aliens and Illegal aliens that you or I do not have and that is dangerous and wrong. Americans need to understand that every time an attack is successful our rights are taken away and yet the liberals fight for the very terrorists that are undermining our way of life.

Republican, democrats and the 9/11 commission have only agreed on one issue over the last four years. They all agree that, the 9/11 attacks were successful because the government lost track of the high jackers once they entered the US b/c the Justice Department unilateral decided that it was unconstitutional to track known terrorist operatives. Had the terrorist operatives been stopped in time you and I would have many more civil rights today.