From The New York Times
Mr. Hoekstra said he feared that Mr. Mohammed and his accused co-conspirators would try to make the trial “a circus” and “use it as a platform to push their ideology.” Why, he asked, should Mr. Mohammed and the other suspects be given “the extraordinary protections that you and I have as American citizens?”
Why? Because this is what makes us better than the terrorists.
It is our protection of legal rights, our offering of fair trials, our sense of justice and fairness which makes us better than the terrorists.
It is this coddling, this being soft on terrorism, this excess kindness which gives us the moral authority to say that terrorists are wrong. If we stoop to their level even the slightest bit, we are surrendering to them. We won't say it, but when we become as indiscriminate, as unjust as them, we become them. We can wave flags and preach a different faith, but we won't be different enough just by that.
Being better than the terrorists isn't about having better technology or more money, it's about being morally superior. I don't mean by choosing the right old book to read from. I mean innately superior, the superiority that comes from a fair system of legal justice that does not rush to conclusions or harm the innocent. It is the superiority of just actions, of broadly applied just actions.
We cannot afford to set aside justice and fairness for even a moment, no matter how much people decry it as coddling. Let them throw away their values out of fear. Let them betray the moral superiority of America. Call them the cowards, and move on along the high road.
There is no dichotomy of freedom and security; instead it is freedom which brings security. I'll talk more about that in a later post.
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4 comments:
Maybe this is a bad example, but what became of slavery in this country? A Civil War. What became of British occupation of the colonies? A Revolutionary War. I agree, freedoms gives security, and the stripping away of freedom is a breeding ground of revolt and instability.
Look closely, do these people who say such things truly believe it or do they have an agenda that is yet unrevealed? I'm inclined to think that there's a 50/50 chance they do believe it AND they have an agenda for their own selfish purposes.
What is it these people are afraid of? Do they really think that if they allow a terrorist to speak that Americans will be converted and follow the path of RADICAL Islam? It makes me wonder what they are trying to hide.
Aw, you just wrote my next post. Damn you! :)
There has been a lot of chatter about people not wanting it to get turned into a trial for the Bush administration. Which I support. They should have their own entirely separate trial.
I'll switch to radical Christianity next. That will be the next terrorist group, but sadly, one that will get far too much domestic support. With luck their actions will finally expose the truth that they are no better than the terrorists, they just lie from a different book.
Sorry!
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