I wrote this for another list. How do you all feel about this?

It seems that not only are we having a crisis in America, this list is having a crisis in what to say. In some ways it's like it's all been said for me. In others I am frankly amazed in that this is what I have been preparing for and I am completely unprepared. After all of the Y2K hoopla, it is like Americans are feeling completely without resources to deal with this. We all sort of poke along trying to grab some normalcy while the world is completely not normal. In the meantime laws are being made that frankly are going to hurt us in the long run. This anti-terrorism bill is packed with unbelievable attacks on our liberty. Things like outlawing barter and police being given the right to enter your home without your knowledge. Things in government that are called temporary tend to hang around for a long time, like the income tax. In my mind is a war between patriotism and constitutionalism. Is anyone else struggling with this? Little Bit Farm

-- Little bit Farm (littlebit@farm.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

Yeah, the anti terrorism bill stuff, from what I hear, sounds pretty scary to people like me who value our privacy. Seems to me we are getting a whole lot of Big Brother crammed down our throats; strike while the iron is hot, I guess. Y2k was something that was supposedly happening worldwide; the terrorist hits really struck us when we were (and are) fat, dumb and happy.

You had mentioned how temporary measures have a way of hanging around. The death tax, supposed to pay for World War I, is still with us, even after all this time.

I want to root out terrorism and terrorists too; I am unwilling to assume that EVERYBODY is a terrorist, until proven otherwise. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

This bill is like using a sledge hammer to drive tacks.

-- j.r. guerra (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), October 31, 2001.

I wish I was still fat, dumb and happy instead of just fat and dumb....sigh. Even in Canada we are not immune.

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), November 09, 2001.