Bonuss is well-known on SI. You know her. She shoots her mouth off but she's no terrorist.
Here's The Onion's humorous take on the tension between our personal freedoms and our search for terrorists. I thought you'd enjoy it if you haven't seen it:
Freedoms Curtailed In Defense Of Liberty
WASHINGTON, DC—Responding to the threats facing America's free democratic system, White House officials called upon Americans to
stop exercising their democratic freedoms Monday.
"In this time of national crisis, a time when our most cherished freedoms are threatened, all Americans—not just outspoken talk-show hosts
like Bill Maher—must watch what they say," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told reporters. "Now more than ever, if we want to
protect democracy for future generations, it is vital that nobody speak out about the issues of the day."
"We must all do our patriotic duty to protect our country's great ideals," Fleischer continued, "and we have to be careful about what
opinions we express if we are to defend our Constitution, a sacred document behind which all Americans must stand united as one."
Fleischer's sentiments echoed those of many executive-branch officials, who, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, have called for broad-based
limitations on civil liberties—and urged all patriotic, freedom-loving citizens to support those restrictions—in defense of the American way of
life.
...
"We live in a land governed by plurality of opinion in an open electorate, but we are now under siege by adherents of a fundamentalist,
totalitarian belief system that tolerates no dissent," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "Our most basic American values are threatened
by an enemy opposed to everything for which our flag stands. That is why I call upon all Americans to submit to wiretaps, e-mail monitoring,
and racial profiling. Now is not the time to allow simplistic, romantic notions of 'civil liberties' and 'equal protection under the law' to get in
the way of our battle with the enemies of freedom."
In the past, Ashcroft said, efforts by federal agencies to restrict personal freedoms were "severely hampered" by such factors as the judicial
system, the Bill Of Rights, and "government by the people." Since the attacks, however, some such limitations have been waived, finally
giving the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, and White House the greater powers they need to defend freedom.
...
It is therefore urgent," Rumsfeld continued, "that all Americans be quiet, stop asking questions, accept the orders of authorities, and let us
get on with the important work of defending liberty, so that America can continue to be a beacon of freedom to all the world."
theonion.com |
