Sunday, February 05, 2006
The Patriot Act is infringing on our rights of privacy!
The US military is spying on US citizens. Groups of anti war activists are planning how to pressure universities to stop the military from recruiting on campuses. On the surface this would seem reasonable. These groups have found out that the military has insiders telling them what their plans are.
The spin
They frame the rhetoric, along with the mainstream press, this way:
The patriot act has given the government the right to spy on its private citizens. We are outraged that our own government can spy on us. They are trampling on our rights of privacy. This evokes an emotional response in all of us. We feel the same rage but how many of us get off of our intellectual lazy ass to think this issue through? My guess, very few. It is easier to go with the journalists who claim to think for us.
The military’s need;
Our military is a modern military. It requires talented people for it to function at the level we expect it too. It is essentially no different than many of our modern high tech industries. It requires leaders with vision, intelligence, and drive to get the job done. Question, where do these people come from? Do they come from our ghettos? Do they come from our farms? Do they come from our heartland? Or maybe the coasts?
The answer is; they come from all of the above but, not before they are educated and filtered through our colleges and universities.
It is in the military’s (and ours) best interest for them to know who is putting up road blocks to their recruiting of good people on campuses around the country.
Imagine a military with out top level leaders or middle managers. How effective will they be in a high tech military? It is very easy to project ahead and see the military collapsing into a rag tag 3rd world military. One not capable of protecting our human rights, freedoms, and democracy. The only people and or groups that would not want this is pure anti war ideologues. And that is understandable!
So what we have is a stand off. Both parties know about each other and that is just the way it ought to be. No party is in a position to do any harm.
But remember the spin or, how the story was framed. It evokes your rage. Right? There is always another point of view that will not be reported on in the mainstream press.
JS
The spin
They frame the rhetoric, along with the mainstream press, this way:
The patriot act has given the government the right to spy on its private citizens. We are outraged that our own government can spy on us. They are trampling on our rights of privacy. This evokes an emotional response in all of us. We feel the same rage but how many of us get off of our intellectual lazy ass to think this issue through? My guess, very few. It is easier to go with the journalists who claim to think for us.
The military’s need;
Our military is a modern military. It requires talented people for it to function at the level we expect it too. It is essentially no different than many of our modern high tech industries. It requires leaders with vision, intelligence, and drive to get the job done. Question, where do these people come from? Do they come from our ghettos? Do they come from our farms? Do they come from our heartland? Or maybe the coasts?
The answer is; they come from all of the above but, not before they are educated and filtered through our colleges and universities.
It is in the military’s (and ours) best interest for them to know who is putting up road blocks to their recruiting of good people on campuses around the country.
Imagine a military with out top level leaders or middle managers. How effective will they be in a high tech military? It is very easy to project ahead and see the military collapsing into a rag tag 3rd world military. One not capable of protecting our human rights, freedoms, and democracy. The only people and or groups that would not want this is pure anti war ideologues. And that is understandable!
So what we have is a stand off. Both parties know about each other and that is just the way it ought to be. No party is in a position to do any harm.
But remember the spin or, how the story was framed. It evokes your rage. Right? There is always another point of view that will not be reported on in the mainstream press.
JS
