but why?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?
pagename=article&node=&contentId=A60181-2003Apr8¬Found=true

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/terror/20030429-
9999_1n29jail.html

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5732352.htm

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/04/25/MN45509.DTL

Silly boy: because they *can*.

And why can they? Because the sheep-like herd, otherwise known as the American public, is too busy thinking (this week) about using a steamroller to smash Dixie Chicks CDs than to think about the long-term effects of the erosion - scratch that: wholesale trashing - of our civil liberties under the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

You been out in the streets protesting? You been writing/calling/visiting elected representatives? You been making any kind of noise in the general public about these things?

I don't mean *you* specifically, Paul, though I bet the shoe fits _almost_ as well as it does on me, but the carte blanche society that we've turned into. Wanna talk about getting sick to your stomach? How about Tom Brokaw, an alleged 'journalist', not just throwing softballs to Shrub but completely abdicating any sense of investigative or introspective journalism. Disgusting.

It's funny: people make fun of the 60's and the hippie-era, but it was the last time people took to the streets in regular and large batches; whether, in the end, it did any good I'm not sure. But the alternative - sitting in our homes and typing away about these things - sucks dick in a major, major way. Which is why I've tried to alter my behavior and get more involved, if only to beat down the feelings of hopelessness, dispair, and anger.

Regards,
Jon