Here's a hypothetical question: You're walking down the street one day, minding your own business, when a complete stranger approaches you and punches you in the face. He doesn't try to mug you or take your money, he doesn't insult you, he doesn't accuse you of sleeping with his girlfriend. Just socks you squarely on the jaw and goes about his business, offering no explanation.
Many people's first reaction would be to call the police maybe, or to chase him down so you could return the favor. Maybe you don't do anything. Whatever. The first reaction isn't important, it would vary from person to person. At some point, though, most normal people would have to get over their first reaction and wonder why they were singled out, out of all the people in the city that day, for a bloody nose.
This isn't the best example obviously, because there are enough loonies wandering around in large cities today to make this story not so strange. You'd probably chalk it up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crazy person and resume your life as usual. Let's put another spin on it, though: you're one country out of many in the world, instead of one person out of many on the street, and instead of socking you in the face, this stranger decides to hijack a plane and topple two of the largest buildings in your largest city, along with a government building in another city.
At what point do you stop and wonder why America was singled out? Why not Canada? Why not Mexico, or France, or Estonia? Or don't you care?
If your only thought on the matter is to Get The Bastards, then no, you probably don't care. I do. And I'm gonna tell you why we were singled out.
We have been waltzing around the world, dictating to other countries how they should run their government and day to day lives. If someone disagrees with us, we simply impose trade sanctions against them, and leave them to starve until they see the light. Worse, we have taken sides in the Holy War in the middle east. We supply weapons and intelligence to Israel. We, the holiest of nations, have decided who gets to live in the "holy land" and who doesn't. You don't know what that whole holy war thing is all about? Don't care? Well you better start paying attention, because your government has taken part, and this is what we, as citizens, get.
We have been instigating this. Inviting it. We live in such a bubble that that outside world is like a TV show, and we're surprised when it turns out to be real.
I could list foreign policy all day, but that doesn't really matter if all you want is to Get The Bastards. It doesn't matter what we have been doing, because we are The Country That Was Never Wrong.
So open up the emails. Outlaw the encryption. Install Carnivore wherever we can. As long as we get the bastards, right?
Slashdot Mirror
Here's a hypothetical question: You're walking down the street one day, minding your own business, when a complete stranger approaches you and punches you in the face. He doesn't try to mug you or take your money, he doesn't insult you, he doesn't accuse you of sleeping with his girlfriend. Just socks you squarely on the jaw and goes about his business, offering no explanation. Many people's first reaction would be to call the police maybe, or to chase him down so you could return the favor. Maybe you don't do anything. Whatever. The first reaction isn't important, it would vary from person to person. At some point, though, most normal people would have to get over their first reaction and wonder why they were singled out, out of all the people in the city that day, for a bloody nose. This isn't the best example obviously, because there are enough loonies wandering around in large cities today to make this story not so strange. You'd probably chalk it up to being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong crazy person and resume your life as usual. Let's put another spin on it, though: you're one country out of many in the world, instead of one person out of many on the street, and instead of socking you in the face, this stranger decides to hijack a plane and topple two of the largest buildings in your largest city, along with a government building in another city. At what point do you stop and wonder why America was singled out? Why not Canada? Why not Mexico, or France, or Estonia? Or don't you care? If your only thought on the matter is to Get The Bastards, then no, you probably don't care. I do. And I'm gonna tell you why we were singled out. We have been waltzing around the world, dictating to other countries how they should run their government and day to day lives. If someone disagrees with us, we simply impose trade sanctions against them, and leave them to starve until they see the light. Worse, we have taken sides in the Holy War in the middle east. We supply weapons and intelligence to Israel. We, the holiest of nations, have decided who gets to live in the "holy land" and who doesn't. You don't know what that whole holy war thing is all about? Don't care? Well you better start paying attention, because your government has taken part, and this is what we, as citizens, get. We have been instigating this. Inviting it. We live in such a bubble that that outside world is like a TV show, and we're surprised when it turns out to be real. I could list foreign policy all day, but that doesn't really matter if all you want is to Get The Bastards. It doesn't matter what we have been doing, because we are The Country That Was Never Wrong. So open up the emails. Outlaw the encryption. Install Carnivore wherever we can. As long as we get the bastards, right?