Mr. Campion,
The drone policy of our government and the absolute powers exhibited by this president, as were the last ones by the previous administration, are the obvious consequences of the way we as citizens allowed the zealous deconstruction of our rights immediately after 9/11. (LIFE (AND DEATH) DURING PERPETUAL WARTIME—Issue: 2/13/12) Back then there was at least an excuse: the shock and fear that we were not as powerful and untouchable as we once had thought. Panic set in at the highest corridors of our government and we demanded to be protected and see justice served. We did not seem to care about what would come of it. We went for immediate gratification; we let our principles as a free people go away—torture, spying, invading countries that had nothing to do with out plight. We were damned scared and acted like it—from people to government.
What is happening now is far more frightening. We have learned nothing from the Bush/Cheney years. We have a president who ran against these atrocities, promised to shut down our illegal prisons and to be transparent in our overseas operations. He lied. And by now using drones against American citizens and having an enemies list to rub out while continuing to try and negotiate fairly with rogue nations like Iran in a hotbed of revolt and anti-American fervor throughout a volatile Middle East, things have gone full circle.
We know now, as you say, there is no going back. We are a war nation more than ever before. And while World War II was massive and Viet Nam disastrous, we now may never know a time without our most generous resource and biggest export is violence and death.
—Andrew Simon
I don’t know who the bad guys are any more. I have to trust that someone does. Who is accountable? Have we evolved to the degree where our inherent need to conduct warfare has honed itself to strategic levels where now only a few will die (compared to past slaughters, ethnic cleansing, Holodomors, etc.)? We shout for transparency regarding who our government is offing (or planning to off) while at the same time we willingly place all of our faith in those who we feel will protect us while hoping, with all of our might, that they have the wisdom to act in a manner that justifies the authority we have handed them. We curl up in our metaphorical Snuggies and watch the Grammys pausing at a commercial break to briefly take stock of the world that surrounds us before sticking our heads back into the sand. We sleep soundly at night believing that the good guys are taking care of business when we know that there are no longer “good guys” or “bad guys.” That there never really was. Just degrees of bad and levels of tolerance. Nazis, Khmer Rouge, Stalinistas or Grey Wolves. CIA, IRA, KGB, KFC. Our government has always held the right to indiscriminately kill us (just ask the American Indian). The saving grace is that, at least now, they have the technology to do it with precision.
—Peter Saveskie
Where is the left now that their beloved president is in the same black hole as Dick Cheney, the minister of unlawful hate and destruction? Where is the outrage? The anti-war protests? Killing citizens? How about Rand Paul waiting 12 hours during an inexhaustible filibuster in the Senate for an answer from our chief law officer on whether it is legal for the government to murder its citizens on suspicion of terrorism. This is FDR Japanese interment camps and Nixon’s enemies list. It is Bush’s domestic surveillance, and it is wrong.
—VV782
It’s hilarious. The last president killed innocents abroad—women, children, bombing schools and churches for absolutely nothing, but since they weren’t Americans, it was apparently fine. Now this guy kills one American (a terrorist) and there is wild screaming—especially from the right that has no leg to stand on after their dismantling of the Constitution and destruction of the economy.
I say, drone away.
It is better than sending my son to another duty in a country we had no business being in in the first place. THANK YOU, GEORGE BUSH.
—Laura B.
Come on, James, be real. (JOE COOL BUDGET/GUNS/IMMIGRATION/EDUCATION TOUR 2013—Issue: 2/27/13) The Democrat Senate and the Democrat president do not pass budgets because they do not have to. The big three networks, CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the L.A. Times and every other major daily rag have never and will never call their guys out and so doing the heavy lifting is left to the next guy. Hence the problem with sequestration. The whole shebangabang was Barack Hussein’s idea and now that it is blowing up in his face, he gets the Palace Scribes to go out and blame the GOP. The GOP, on the other hand, is not doing themselves any favors by allowing themselves to get butt violated by this President and not fighting back.
The fact you haven’t figured out why Barry Soetoro is out on tour is rather funny. Don’t you understand it is easier to campaign than govern? He has a media who will support his every whim and never call him on it and he has a free 747 full of Jet A for whenever he needs it. He stays on the campaign trail and will never have to be held to account for his many failures.
It is funny, when there is a Republican president, it is all his fault, but when there is a Democrat president, both sides are at fault. Oh to be a Democrat at a time when 47 percent are living off your benevolence…
Peace,
—Bill Roberts
I am positive there will be no gun control laws passed by this or any Congress ever. The president can go on all the populist tours he’d like. We love our guns. And by the way, we love our shitty fast food and our porn and our reality shows and our beer and pot and NASCAR and there is not a damned thing the northern NY establishment elite can do about it. They cannot touch that. And we don’t care what manner of murdering anti-societal inbreeds you call us either. This is not going to change. Live with it.
—GABBA-GABBA
James Campion is the Managing Editor of the Reality Check News & Information Desk and the author of “Deep Tank Jersey”, “Fear No Art”, “Trailing Jesus” and “Midnight for Cinderella”
