So I spent the weekend in DC and probably walked 15 miles or so around the nations capital and various sites. What struck me was how many fences were around an area that is a supposed center of Govt that represents freedom to the US. Not just a few fences but lots and lots of fences. And armed guards, not just rent-a-cops but instead it was guards with machine guns.
So in our efforts to win a 'war on terror', did we instead lose?
Freedom??
Oh we lost big time. There's something ridiculous like 50 different law enforcement agencies operating in DC, and there are a lot of areas that you just can't get to anymore.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
-
Hashi Lebwohl
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 19576
- Joined: Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:38 pm
Re: Freedom??
Yes, we lost.SoulBiter wrote: So in our efforts to win a 'war on terror', did we instead lose?
Do I have to list all the major cities which exist inside the 100-mile zone next to the borders where many Constitutionally-protected liberties no longer apply? New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D. C itself, Miami, Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, El Paso, San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, etc. It is staggering when you consider how many people live in that zone.
The Tank is gone and now so am I.
-
Zarathustra
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 19629
- Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:23 am
We've had fences long before the WoT. They are defensive. Much like our military. The need for defense doesn't mean we're not free, it means we have something worth protecting. Most fences also have gates.
I have a fence around my yard. It's not a sign of oppression. It's not even really that effective. It's more like a polite reminder of which lines my neighbors shouldn't cross, if they don't want to piss me off.
If you ask me, our country's borders are way too much like my own fence ... though without neighbors who get the polite message, and trample on over anyway. Whether it's ebola, illegal immigrants, or terrorists who over stayed their visas and no one bothered to do anything about it, our country is way too porous.
I have a fence around my yard. It's not a sign of oppression. It's not even really that effective. It's more like a polite reminder of which lines my neighbors shouldn't cross, if they don't want to piss me off.
If you ask me, our country's borders are way too much like my own fence ... though without neighbors who get the polite message, and trample on over anyway. Whether it's ebola, illegal immigrants, or terrorists who over stayed their visas and no one bothered to do anything about it, our country is way too porous.
Joe Biden … putting the Dem in dementia since (at least) 2020.
Zar, how much time did you spend in DC before 9/11? There is a marked difference in the city now.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
-
Zarathustra
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 19629
- Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:23 am
I was there in 2006. I didn't see it prior to that, but I didn't think it was weird then. People do try to kill the President, and there have been shootings at various buildings in DC. But the public still has access. Obviously, the fence wasn't enough at the White House.
Last edited by Zarathustra on Mon Oct 20, 2014 10:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Joe Biden … putting the Dem in dementia since (at least) 2020.
-
Vraith
- The Gap Into Spam
- Posts: 10621
- Joined: Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:03 pm
- Location: everywhere, all the time
That is noticeably true. I was there a couple times, early 80's and late 90's, once in 2007. Big difference.Cail wrote:Zar, how much time did you spend in DC before 9/11? There is a marked difference in the city now.
[spoiler]Sig-man, Libtard, Stupid piece of shit. change your text color to brown. Mr. Reliable, bullshit-slinging liarFucker-user.[/spoiler]
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
-
aliantha
- blueberries on steroids
- Posts: 17865
- Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2002 7:50 pm
- Location: NOT opening up a restaurant in Santa Fe
Agreed. Huge difference between pre- and post-9/11 DC.
One example: Pre-9/11, the Metro station at the Pentagon had glass doors on the concourse level that went right into the Pentagon. The bus station was right outside the building. I rarely saw anyone with a firearm back then. Today, the direct access from the Metro station has been sealed off. There are now checkpoints staffed by armed guards outside the building -- if you want to go inside the Pentagon, you need to have an ID or a damned good reason. And I often see cops with guns inside the Metro station itself.
Even at my office, we need to scan our security badges to get into the building, and again to use the elevator. None of that was put in place until after 9/11.
One example: Pre-9/11, the Metro station at the Pentagon had glass doors on the concourse level that went right into the Pentagon. The bus station was right outside the building. I rarely saw anyone with a firearm back then. Today, the direct access from the Metro station has been sealed off. There are now checkpoints staffed by armed guards outside the building -- if you want to go inside the Pentagon, you need to have an ID or a damned good reason. And I often see cops with guns inside the Metro station itself.
Even at my office, we need to scan our security badges to get into the building, and again to use the elevator. None of that was put in place until after 9/11.
EZ Board Survivor
"Dreaming isn't good for you unless you do the things it tells you to." -- Three Dog Night (via the GI)
https://www.hearth-myth.com/