Where Do You Draw the Line?

Lately I've tried to keep my nose out of the political maelstrom that comprises our government. Mainly because I was tired. I was tired of getting frustrated, annoyed, and worried about the course our country is currently taking. Ultimately I was tired of how, with each passing week, it became more and more obvious that the government has a 'hall pass' letting them do whatever they please, whenever they please, legality be damned.

However the recent spat of new events has once again reawakened the urge for me to dive back in. I just don't understand how the american people can sit by and watch Bush and co. continue to walk all over anyone they please, especially since it has become evident that the government has taken to treading on its own citizens, not being satisfied with crushing other countries with a military fist.

So now we have Hayden being installed as the new head of the CIA. A military officer....what a surprise. Immigration has all of sudden become a hot topic. Bush's solution - build walls and send in the military. I'm not sure why this ever increasing reliance on military force isn't more a cause of concern for americans.

And of course there is the NSA fiasco. Now, of course, companies like Bellsouth and Verizon are denying they supplied any phone records to the NSA. We, of course, should trust the phone companies, who didn't feel that outraged when the story broke, and only denied any involvement after there was movement to file lawsuits against them.

What really gets me is the fact that according to recent polls 62% of americans don't care that their phone records are being compiled by the government. After everything that has gone on with the current administration you mean to tell me that people actually trust Bush when he says the goverment is not using these records to snoop into your personal life? Just a couple of weeks ago Bush was telling america it was only monitoring international phone calls. I guess he just forgot about the massive database of domestic phone calls the NSA was also compiling.

And of course there is now the recent news that the FAA is implementing a new security program at airports where security guards are trained to look for people who look stressed or nervous. Are you kidding me? I don't know about you but when I travel by air I'm always stressed and nervous. Spending 6 hours in seats that were apparently designed for kids 12 and under, sitting next to someone who is experiencing gastro-intestinal issues is not exactly the best recipe for a restful and relaxing day of travel.

The question is where do we draw the line? If history has taught us anything, it is to be extra cautious of governments who disregard more and more of your civil liberties while constantly increasing the role of the military in the daily operations of the government. I've read that estimates show our government now allocates more money to the military than the combined spending on military by the rest of the world. Should this not be setting off alarm bells across our nation?

Of course, things don't get any better when you look at how the military is spending all this money. I recently read an interesting articlehttp://www.commondreams.org/views06/0518-26.htm on the ongoing efforts of our reconstruction efforts in Iraq. One of the many reasons I didn't support the invasion of Iraq was because of our history of making things worse rather than better in the aftermath of our playing politics. Once we were there though, there was nothing but to hope for the best. Maybe it would work out. But by the looks of things our continuing occupation of Iraq is only serving to make things worse. And, if you read the article, how in the world do we justify building an embassy that would pass as the palace of your dreams, when we refuse to spend the money necessary to fix the problems we created?

And yet, what are people up in arms about? The Da Vinci Code. Christians around the world, and especially in america, are out protesting in force...a fictional film.

At least we have our priorities straight.