Very well said...

Though I have a few minor disagreements, such as which branch of government is to be most closely scrutinized, this post has summarized a lengthy discussion that has been taking place on "Free" Republic all day.

I think many people can see the forest for the trees but don't want to speak up for fear of the more vocal members of this forum. The twists of logic I've seen here over the course of the past year have effectively, for the most part, kept me from posting for a while (I refuse, however, to give them the satisfaction of an opus, as tempting as it may be at times).

It was not too long ago that Republicans were vehement about actual conservative principles. That is what attracted me to the Republican Party in the first place. To be conservative was to oppose government encroachment into our daily lives. It was to support small, limited government that, for the most part, was willing to operate at the state level. To be Republican was to oppose the very principle of nation building and overseas expeditions (which, one might add, has played a very considerable role in generating much of the ill-will we now face). These, along with many other principles, were the crux of conservatism. Now, even among so-called conservatives, to be truly conservative is to have a "September 10th" mindset. I seem to recall the days when Republicans, as a rule, disdained such sloganism as the venue of Democrats.

But, then again, I suppose that is what really marks the "Post-Sepember 11th Realistic Mindset" - a willingness to embrace the very policies supported by Democrats that we had opposed for years. The dirty little secret is that many Republicans seem to believe that conservatism is a failure, that it does not REALLY work, and that it is only fit for an ideal world. I think that's a shame.

And now I'll come out and say it, since many others seem unable and unwilling to do so - I think that support for broad government surveillance (especially against hated groups!), support for expanded government programs, support for overseas expeditionism and nation building, support for "strenuous interrogation techniques" (torture, for those of you in Rio Linda) on supposed "terrorists" (who are never proved to be such in a court of law... so much for the burden of the State to prove guilt) for "information gathering purposes", the use of slogans and the grossest of logical fallacies in the place of reason, the labelling of those who hold views with which some disagree as "traitors", and the calls for the destruction of the one billion plus Muslims living throughout the world are all as decidedly unpatriotic as we can get!

I think this attitude that has prevailed throughout Republican circles that has been willing to denounce those that question government action as supporting terrorists and terrorism in general is absolutely abhorrent and causes the founders of our great country to roll in their graves! It is and has always been patriotic to question the actions of those that possess power, especially when those individuals hold office in the government. To claim, as so many faux-conservatives have done for the past four years, that 9-11 has left this sane principle in the dustbin of history is to effectively turn one's back on all that this country has stood for in its 200+ years of history!

I've been here at Free Republic since May 2001. I've taken part in a great many discussions, debates, and arguments around here. I have never been suspended and have never engaged in flame wars or been told by a moderator to "cool it". I'm not in any hurry to permanently leave unless I am forced to do so (which, after this message, may very well happen). I voted for President Bush twice, and both times I was quite unaware that I was electing a King and administration beyond reproach, but rather was under the impression that I was helping to elect a man as the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States of America, a position that, by the designs of those that created the position, was always to be held under the closest of scrutiny. I am absolutely awed by the sheer naivety of some that seem to believe a simple (R) beside a man's name grants him the closest thing possible to infallibility as can be found in a political system. It is that same position that seems to buy into the notion that all news that is in support of one's position must, by nature, be correct, while that that seems to go against one's wishes must be biased or false.

If some want to respond to this post by calling me a liberal, so be it. I'm not the one who has turned his back on conservative principles by claiming they are representative of a 9-10 mindset. I'm not the one who is so afraid of international bullies that he has to scream, "Not in the face! Not in the face!" by willingly trading my rights not to have the government violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution (the Supreme law of the land) on mere suspicion while using secret warrants. I'm not the one who has to tell myself, "I have nothing to fear from the government if I'm not doing anything wrong," as though my fundamental God-given freedoms exist merely insofar as the government does not have a problem with me. I would rather be living in my 9-10 mindset than your Orwellian 1984 mindset that is willing to believe Big Brother will leave me alone just because I go out of my way to be a good citizen.

And, as a last note, I should point out that, should such measures be entrenched in our way of life, the second amendment shall be of no avail when we decide that the government really has become too oppressive. After all, raising arms against the government, by definition, will make you a terrorist, subject to all the villification the title entails in the public eye and subject to all the measures of which you all-too-happily supported when you thought they could never be turned against you.

Patrick Henry said, "Give me liberty or give me death." How far we've seem to come since then. If we believe the Constitution, as it is worded, is tantamount to a suicide pact, then we'd be far more honest and far better off to just vote and repeal it.

Patriot Act