Which of these are more important?

Question

Which is more important... To bicker about who is to blame for 9/11 or to work together to make sure another 9/11 never occurs again?

Which is more important.. To embolden potential terrorist extremists by showing division between the people of the US or to put our differences aside and unite to fight the extremists that want to bring us harm?

Which is more important... Proving a political point of view and weakening our influence around the world or proving to the world that regardless of our own differences inside our country that we will put those differences aside to protect and defend our country?

What are you willing to compromise on to insure the tranquility of our country?

Anyone...

The compromises I am speaking of has to do with the partisan games that are ripping this country apart. The misinformation, the willful exagerating of facts to incite fear, anger, paranoia and division amongst each other. Our trying to discredit anyone who doesn't follow our own political beliefs is destroying this country from the inside out. While we are so busy trying to discredit each other politically, the entities outside our borders who we really should be concerned with, are using our actions against each other to empower themselves. At no time in our countries history has the phrase United We Stand and Divided We Fall held more importance. I just can not understand why people don't see that. Playing political games, even on these boards is damaging . Open the mainpage to the questions in this forum. Read the titles of the questions being asked. How many do you see that are serious questions and how many are questions being asked to incite anger amongst people?

obviously I can't control what it is you are going to see. I feel confident enough to say that probably more than 50% of the questions posed are people slinging mud at each other. How is that productive? I personally don't view these boards as a playground. We have people from all over the world taking part in these discussions. What they read here leaves a lasting impression. In many cases what they read here is the only *true* picture they will get of what kind of people the American people are. What are we giving them? If I wasn't an American and didn't know that a large portion of the responses here are immature kids playing games I would think that Americans are a bunch of self-centered, vile morons myself.

I understand your concern with everyones personal freedoms being compromised. You are referring to the Patriot Act. Is it possible for you to set aside your mistrust of the government to study the Patriot Act to see what the provisions actually say?

The only people who need to fear what the Patriot Act can do to them are those who have a direct link to terrorist activity. While I understand your example of parking tickets was somewhat tongue in cheek there will be those who will read it and believe that they are a target of the government for something as trivial as parking tickets now. They won't bother to research it, it was said, that is good enough for them, it must be a fact. And for some, they don't want to point out the facts about the Patriot Act. It benefits their personal political agenda for others to believe the misinformation. I am not going to go into a big debate concerning the Patriot Act. Everyone has the ability to read the provisions for themselves. If they are smart enough to read what we are putting here they are smart enough to understand the intent behind the provisions. Also, to put it very simply, any legislation that is put into law (Patriot Act Provisions) can be overturned just as easilly by changing

the law. There isn't a law that exists that can not be changed. So no, I do not feel threatened by the Patriot Act. So yes, I am willing to compromise to a degree my personal freedoms if it makes it easier to apprehend those who want to attack my country again.

The borders. I agree with you. I live less than a mile from the Canadian border. What I can say is at the crossings of the Canadian border in our area, it is very tight. The Canadians and the Americans alike take it very seriously. While it use to be possible to just drive from one side to the other, that isn't possible anymore. Same goes for the waterways.

Anyone... I have examined in my own mind what compromises I am willing to live with. I understand the pros and the cons. I also know that the world isn't a friendly place anymore and that if we as Americans do not put aside these games that are being played we are all going to lose. It won't matter what party controls the House, Senate and the Presidency. It won't matter if the rich pay more taxes, or that jobs are being shipped overseas. It won't matter what conspiracy theory anyone wants to believe because the reality may be that our country may not survive to be concerned with these things.

You said...

"I'm not here to change your mind, but I am going to ask you to think carefully and rationally about what compromises you are willing to make, because it isn't only yourself that you are thinking for, it's all of us. "

I could ask the same thing of you. Neither one of us are wrong. We both want the same thing.

My reason for posing this question had absolutely no political motivation behind it. I simply want people to take into serious consideration how their behavior on these boards could be affecting all of our lives. I am afraid not enough do or will.

Answer 1

Well put. The most important thing is not playing politics. It is coming together to keep our great nation safe. I wish everyone saw it that way...

Answer 2

You make a lot of very good points here, Proud2b, and there is no doubt that your heart is in the right place. Now where's your course of action?
What compromises exactly are we talking about? Should I feel safer if my government spies on ME, a natural citizen of the US?
I don't have anything to hide, but it will be a waste of time and money for the Department of Homeland security to dig up all my unpaid parking tickets and have a commitee decide whether or not I am a threat. I don't imagine for a moment that this is what will really happen, but when our government alters our laws to make it easier to catch terrorists, do I really need to feel that my own freedom is being compromised? That is what some Americans are feeling.
And does it help to tighten security at the Mexican border, but not at the Canadian border? Just what are they thinking? That's the key issue. We don't trust that the current administration is doing the job we want them to do; we don't trust that they don't have some other agenda that has nothing to do with a war on terror.
It comes down to the most difficult of all the issues that the US has always faced. Military intelligence has to operate secretly, but an agency that operates in secrecy can be corrupt and can do things that they shouldn't be doing. It's a matter of trust. In the normal workings of our government, we have system upon system to ensure that government is accountable to the people.
We- that is, the founders of our nation- created a new type of government with a unique structure and a constitution that is designed to keep the will of the people in mind. Two hundred and thirty years later, we have learned to take for granted that ours is the best type of government and that nothing can ever change it.
Things can change and things will change if we let things change. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. It is up to us to decide which changes are right for us.
I have always seen the great wisdom of our sepatation of church and state and I've fought against any compromises to that part of our constitution, but I'll tell you something. I am ready to support the creation of a definition of what an acceptable religion can and cannot believe to include one and only one major point: we should not allow any religious adherance to the idea of a holy war.
Sound reasonable enough. doesn't it? But it would mean that our own soldiers would not be allowed to ask for God's help when they go into battle.
I would really only ask that you examine within your own mind what compromises you are willing to make and what drawbacks those compromises might have. If you can't see any drawbacks, you are probably not thinking carefully enough. It is only through critical thinking that we can hope to come up with genuine workable solutions and that is the process that you see happening in our country and to which you are objecting.
And here is the really insidious thing about extremism. It makes us think that we have to fight it with our own extremism, instead of thinking about what we're doing.
And then we become a nation of extremists.
We learned some terrible and valuable lessons during world war two. We decided not to trust anyone of Japanese descent. We imprisoned all the Japanese-Americans and we dropped atomic bombs on Japanese civilians. It was very effective. But was it right?
No American will disagree with you that we need to act decisively, but if we become extremists in the course of fighting a war against extremists, then we will have lost the war by losing sight of who we are and what we stand for.
I'm not here to change your mind, but I am going to ask you to think carefully and rationally about what compromises you are willing to make, because it isn't only yourself that you are thinking for, it's all of us.
May God bless and guide you.

Answer 3

Your questions are engineered so that your answers are the only correct ones anyone will give. Unfortunately, I wont answer crap questions that are filled with misinformation(or UNinformation?) and misleading wording.
"and weakening our influence around the world or proving to the world that regardless of our own differences inside our country that we will put those differences aside to protect and defend our country?"
Cant you see that what is WEAKENING our influence around the world is our bullheadish attitude toward the rest of the world? Doing what you say wouldnt be "Proving your political point of view" but it would be achieving what you wanted, by doing what you say, without ever had proved your point of view as to why it needed to be done.

Answer 4

I think all Americans need to work together to make America strong so that a 9/11 can't happen again.

Answer 5

I think we should work together, as for what i would compromise on... the long lines in airports, the list of things i cant take on a plane and taking my shoes off.

Answer 6

I'm not willing to compromise anything. What I am willing to do is go after those who did it. That means you Saudi Arabia!

Answer 7

Yes, good to hear that

and most importantly...

never to deny God and never to deny the fact that the US of A's historical political and societal roots were firmly planted in Chistianity

God Bless you

Answer 8

Here's what's REALLY going on with 911!...
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/911/Robert.htm
Another 911 could happen again because of THIS group that backs president Bush and others!...
http://www.rense.com/general58/suspre.htm

Answer 9

Thank you! very well put!