Should We Fear Death from an Act of Terrorism?

Catatonic

Nine Lives

wkmac

Well-Known Member
New polling numbers suggest that United States citizens are on average more afraid of their own government then the threat of another terrorist attack.
Even after a pair of bombings in Boston two weeks ago injured hundreds, more Americans say they are unwilling to sacrifice constitutional liberties for security than those who are.
A handful of polls conducted in the days after the Boston Marathon bombings show that US citizens are responding much differently than in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that killed roughly 3,000 people. Not only are Americans more opposed now to giving up personal freedoms for the sake of security than they were after 9/11, but other statistics show that distrust against the federal government continues to climb.
Just one day after the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, pollsters with Fox News asked a sample of Americans, “Would you be willing to give up some of your personal freedom in order to reduce the threat of terrorism?” Forty-three percent of the respondents said they would, while 45 percent said no. Comparatively, 71 percent of Americans asked a similar question in October 2001 said they’d be willing to give up personal freedoms, while only 20 percent opposed at the time.


Americans Troubled More by Governmental Abuse Than Terrorism
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
According to the study, the area east of the Barton-McFarland community in zip code 48204 is the most dangerous neighborhood in America.

The study said the chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in this west side community over the course of a year are one in seven.
Sharing similar statistics is the Islandview community in the 48207 zip code on the city’s east side, which ranks as the second most dangerous neighborhood on the list.
Coming in as the third most dangerous neighborhood in the country is the area between Ravendale and LaSalle College Park in zip codes 48213 and 48205.
The study said the chances of becoming a victim of violent crime in this east side neighborhood are one in eight.

[h=1]Detroit Takes Top Spots On List Of Most Dangerous Neighborhoods In America[/h]
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
But your bed is still a greater threat than this neighborhood and even a cop poses just a slightly greater threat.
 

wkmac

Well-Known Member
Actually, that's true. Anyone who was intelligent and sane feared what George W. Bush might say or do next.

The problem was once GWB was gone, they stopped voicing opposition to the same actions under Bush to which they'd been rightly vocal. Now under Obama, they themselves became the "Bush apologist" for what in effect are Bush policies continued and magnified under Obama's watch. But then the silent mass of the Bush era, those Bush apologists, became a vocal mass of the Obama era. The comedy is watching them criticize Obama when he's projecting Bush policy on the grounds it violates the Constitution but then to equal the comedy are the Obama apologists offering excuses and makes exceptions.

It's not about principle for either side, it's purely politics and thus with controlled opposition, the state grows. Hoax's point in post #14 being valid.

Last week in an interview with Alternet, Noam Chomsky had this to say about Obama:

Mike Stivers: Anyone following issues of civil liberties under Obama knows that his administration's policies have been disastrous. The signing of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which effectively legalizes indefinite detention of US citizens, the prosecution of more whistleblowers than any previous president, the refusal to close Guantanamo, and the adoption of ruthless positions in trials such as Hedges vs. Obama and Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project don't even encapsulate the full extent of the flagrant violations of civil, political and constitutional rights. One basic question that a lot of people seem to be asking is, why? What's the rationale?

Noam Chomsky: That's a very interesting question. I personally never expected anything of Obama, and wrote about it before the 2008 primaries. I thought it was smoke and mirrors. The one thing that did surprise me is his attack on civil liberties. They go well beyond anything I would have anticipated, and they don't seem easy to explain. In many ways the worst is what you mention, Holder vs. Humanitarian Law Project. That's an Obama initiative and it's a very serious attack on civil liberties. He doesn't gain anything from it – he doesn't get any political mileage out of it. In fact, most people don't even know about it, but what it does is extend the concept of "material assistance to terror" to speech.
The case in question was a law group that was giving legal advice to groups on the terrorist list, which in itself has no moral or legal justification; it's an abomination. But if you look at the way it's been used, it becomes even more abhorrent ( Nelson Mandela was on it until a couple of years ago.) And the wording of the colloquy is broad enough that it could very well mean that if, say, you meet with someone in a terrorist group and advise them to turn to nonviolent means, then that's material assistance to terrorism. I've met with people who are on the list and will continue to do so, and Obama wants to criminalize that, which is a plain attack on freedom of speech. I just don't understand why he's doing it.

Noam Chomsky: Obama's Attack on Civil Liberties Has Gone Way Beyond Imagination

Had Bush done what Obama is doing now, it would be the democrats rushing the gun stores, buying ammo and screaming for blood and yet, listen......hear that?..........yeah me neither.

Chomsky is also a plantiff along with the likes of Chris Hedges and Daniel Ellsburg in suing the Obama administration over these very issues and where is the traditionally strong civil liberties democrat party? There's that silence again. But then where is the GOP or even the Tea Party who proclaim the Constitution and it's Bill of Rights all but sacred and from the hands of God? Same silence.

That might be telling to anyone the least capable of any critical thinking.
 
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