[Bill Gold]

Michael:
Definitely. I'm glad someone had the guts to bring that up with all of this patriotism in the air... You're a better man than I.

-Bill

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I just thought I'd share part of a column that I thought was interesting. I didn't write it, but if you want to feel better about yourself by flaming me for not sharing your opinion... go ahead. I don't care.

"While an understandable focus has been placed on the 2,801 casualties of the event, there's another casualty that has escaped much notice.

That casualty is our freedom.

With all the focus on the war against terrorism, we've been distracted from the real war that's going on - our governments (US and Canadian) versus us.

There was much ado after September 11 about defending our way of life from attack. There were many speeches about protecting liberty and our democratic way of life. But in a twist that would have amused George Orwell, many of those speeches and the steps they proposed to protect our freedoms were nothing more than a smokescreen for taking them away.

Tell me, do you feel more secure now that airports conduct random searches and prevent you from taking anything sharp onboard a plane? Sorry, I don't. Random searches are nothing but a PR stunt. On most of the flights I've taken, the people pulled aside have been white-haired old men and ladies.

As for stopping you from taking sharp items on a plane…that makes sense when it comes to items that could possibly be used for assault purposes. But a pin on the back of a button? A nail clipper? That's sure to stop any unwanted airborne manicures, but terrorists? Please.

Better safe than sorry, you say? No, better smart than sorry. And these steps aren't smart, they're annoying, improperly executed and insulting to one's intelligence.

But these steps are just an inconvenience. The real problem is the draconian steps the government took to take away our freedoms. Governments can now read our e-mail, enter our homes and search our property without a warrant, all to protect us from terrorists. Great. But who's going to protect us from the government?

Certainly not the media, who helped the government sell us their version of reality. They made the perfect bedfellows - the government needs our fear to control us, and the media needs our fear to sell more newspapers.

You know what happened on September 11, 2001? The FBI screwed-up, the White House screwed-up, the airports screwed-up - and as a result, 2,081 people died horribly.

But you won't hear that too often. Because the same power that convinced us that artery-clogging fast-food is our friend and Will & Grace is Must-See-TV turned their brainwashing power to pushing the White House's agenda.

Anyone with opinions that didn't fall into lockstep with the White House propaganda were discredited in the press as being soft on terrorists, or insensitive to the 911 victims. In the U.S., columnists were fired for daring to criticize their half-wit president. Orwell's thought-crimes had become a reality. Freedom of the press is meaningless if the press refuses to exercise it. Instead of doing it's job as an independent arena for the discovery of truth, the newsmedia effectively choked off debate all in the name of protecting our way-of-life. Thanks...

Ironically, the only winner in this whole scenario is Afghanistan who, freed of the Taliban, actually had their rights restored. Truth is stranger than fiction, but this is practically the Twilight Zone...."
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