Thursday, August 12, 2004
Why We Fought A Revolution
I've heard many times that Americans have short memories. Another aphorism floating around out there is that kids in the U.S. get shafted when it comes to learning about civics. Perhaps that's why we have not been in the bathroom throwing up over the Hamdi case. Of course the Bush Administration cannot lock-up U.S. Citizens without providing basic constitutional rights such as allowing them to see a lawyer or telling them why they are being detained. Embarrassingly, it took the Supreme Court to right this extremely serious wrong and now, according to Thomas Ricks and Jerry Markon in today's Washington Post, the government has decided, after 2 years, that he should be released!
I guess the lesson here is that when the government labels some program a "war" we better run for the hills. The war on poverty took our earnings and chained low income people to a life of despair. The war on drugs has driven up prices on a thriving black market that has resulted in the death of thousands. We have been fighting an undeclared war on education since the 1950's only to see student achievement drop for every year of engagement. Now we see the war on terror trampling on basic human rights. This is definitely not the America our founders envisioned.
PermaLink | 7:10 AM |
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I guess the lesson here is that when the government labels some program a "war" we better run for the hills. The war on poverty took our earnings and chained low income people to a life of despair. The war on drugs has driven up prices on a thriving black market that has resulted in the death of thousands. We have been fighting an undeclared war on education since the 1950's only to see student achievement drop for every year of engagement. Now we see the war on terror trampling on basic human rights. This is definitely not the America our founders envisioned.
PermaLink | 7:10 AM |
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