Back From Hiatus And Happy To Be In Israel
I haven't written or posted anything in almost 2 weeks. Like any other blogger who doesn't get over 100 viewers a day, I do this for my own amusement, pleasure, and venting. Therefore, there are times when the "inspiration" for blogging leaves me for a little bit. But, now I'm back.
I've lived in Israel for 2.5 years now. However, it's only until recently that I've actually been happy that I'm not currently living in the United States. It started a little bit when the Democrats took control of Congress and when into full force when the Immigration Reform Bill, or "Shamnesty Bill" as I like to call it, was introduced to the American people. Now, it is on full boil.
It is official. America is back in 9/10 mode. If some U.S. city is NOT attacked within the next year, I will be extremely surprised. I have to admit something. I watch 9/11 documentaries on a semi-regular basis. It's not because I'm a morbid person that's obsessed with such a horrific event. I lived in New York city for 5 years. I was there on 9/11. I don't have to watch any TV program to remember that day. I saw the pictures for myself. The reason I watch these things is to remind myself; to remind myself what happened, what went wrong, and what we continue to stand to lose if we don't fix the problems and mentality that was held before those building were struck.
Alas, not everyone feels the same way I do. Worst of all, the very people charged with protecting and defending me and every American citizen has lost all sense of what really happened on that day. It's become business as usual. What am I talking about? This past week, the Senate voted down the John Doe Provision, which would make it illegal to prosecute any person or persons that came forward to report suspicious behavior to authorities. Let me make it clear. THEY VOTED AGAINST IT!! This means that if you're on an airplane or on a subway or work in a video store or just plain walking down the street, and you see behavior that scares you or seems suspicious, and you go and report it to the police or FBI or whoever, the person you reported has the RIGHT to sue you or bring legal action against you. The young man who works at Best Buy who reported the Jihad training video to the authorities, the young man who single handedly played a vital role in stopping the Fort Dix terrorist plot, him? The men arrested can SUE him for "racial profiling"!!
The Senate has just made the country a must less safe and weaker place to be! How is THIS a bipartisan issue?!? Can someone please explain it to me?!? We already have a law like this on the books, and no-one has yet to scream racial profiling in relation to it. What law you ask? It's called The Good Samaritan Law, which states that if you report an alleged crime taking place, you don't have to give your name, and you won't be forced to testify. It's meant to encourage people to report crimes without fear or any sort of repercussions. Well, that seems logical enough.
So, why is it that when it comes to protecting American citizens against terrorist attacks and, likewise, encourage people to be on the forefront of terrorist prevention, our government has slapped us in the face and said that they protect the terrorists rather than us?!? If you hesitate to report suspicious activity because you're afraid that some ambulance chasing lawyer will sue you for your diligence, who will come forward to protect us?
Here's a simple 9/11 example which could have prevented Mohammad Atta from getting on American Airlines Flight 11 and crashing the first plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The ticket agent in the Maine airport that Atta flew out of on the morning of 9/11 stated that Atta looked suspicious and had such a disgusted look of anger on his face that the agent was contemplating letting him through. Now, I'm in no way blaming the ticket agent of anything. The 9/11 plot should have and could have been stopped well in advance had the current PATRIOT Act been in place pre-9/11. However, if the agent had reported Atta's suspicious behavior to the authorities, things may have turned out differently. Let's fast forward to today and say another Atta comes through our gates, and the agent doesn't report the guy; not because he doesn't know any better and nothing like 9/11 had ever happened before but because he's AFRAID THE GUY WILL SUE HIM IS HE'S WRONG! Don't think it would happen? That's exactly what happened with the "Flying Imams" case.
An ARABIC speaking man reported these 6 "Imams" behaving suspiciously on a flight. They were speaking in Arabic about Jihad and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They also moved around in an extremely suspicious way. Other passengers also reported this suspicious behavior. When these claims became public, the Imams along with Islamic front groups like CAIR came forward and accused the passengers or racial profiling and attempted to sue all the John Does, or unnamed passengers. The case was thrown out. However, instead of being congratulated for their diligence and courage to speak up when they saw something that looked suspicious, the Demcoratically controlled Senate has now made a bold and frightening statement. "If you see suspicious behavior, DON'T REPORT IT. Sit there, keep your mouth shut, hope and pray it's not a terrorist act, lest you open yourself up to be sued for all your worth and be branded a racist xenophobe."
I'll leave you with a chilling comment an anti-terrorist FBI agent said to Steven Emmerson. I'll have to paraphrase it because I don't remember the exact words. He said to Steve that it took a 9/11 to wake up America to what was going in the world. Then, he said, "You know what? I'm afraid it's going to take another 9/11." Why? Because people have short memories, and they've already become complacent. Actually, more the government, especially the Democrats, than the American people. I truly believe that the majority of the American people are ready and willing to do their part to prevent another terrorist attack from occurring on American soil. It is the government that has reverted back to its pre-9/11 thinking where National Security is secondary from securing the resources and votes of certain special interest groups, where fulfilling their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution and the people from all enemies; foreign AND domestic comes second to party politics.
It's a sad time for America.
Technorati Tags: America, United+States, 9/11, Islam, Muslim, Imam, Democrat, Congress, Senate
I've lived in Israel for 2.5 years now. However, it's only until recently that I've actually been happy that I'm not currently living in the United States. It started a little bit when the Democrats took control of Congress and when into full force when the Immigration Reform Bill, or "Shamnesty Bill" as I like to call it, was introduced to the American people. Now, it is on full boil.
It is official. America is back in 9/10 mode. If some U.S. city is NOT attacked within the next year, I will be extremely surprised. I have to admit something. I watch 9/11 documentaries on a semi-regular basis. It's not because I'm a morbid person that's obsessed with such a horrific event. I lived in New York city for 5 years. I was there on 9/11. I don't have to watch any TV program to remember that day. I saw the pictures for myself. The reason I watch these things is to remind myself; to remind myself what happened, what went wrong, and what we continue to stand to lose if we don't fix the problems and mentality that was held before those building were struck.
Alas, not everyone feels the same way I do. Worst of all, the very people charged with protecting and defending me and every American citizen has lost all sense of what really happened on that day. It's become business as usual. What am I talking about? This past week, the Senate voted down the John Doe Provision, which would make it illegal to prosecute any person or persons that came forward to report suspicious behavior to authorities. Let me make it clear. THEY VOTED AGAINST IT!! This means that if you're on an airplane or on a subway or work in a video store or just plain walking down the street, and you see behavior that scares you or seems suspicious, and you go and report it to the police or FBI or whoever, the person you reported has the RIGHT to sue you or bring legal action against you. The young man who works at Best Buy who reported the Jihad training video to the authorities, the young man who single handedly played a vital role in stopping the Fort Dix terrorist plot, him? The men arrested can SUE him for "racial profiling"!!
The Senate has just made the country a must less safe and weaker place to be! How is THIS a bipartisan issue?!? Can someone please explain it to me?!? We already have a law like this on the books, and no-one has yet to scream racial profiling in relation to it. What law you ask? It's called The Good Samaritan Law, which states that if you report an alleged crime taking place, you don't have to give your name, and you won't be forced to testify. It's meant to encourage people to report crimes without fear or any sort of repercussions. Well, that seems logical enough.
So, why is it that when it comes to protecting American citizens against terrorist attacks and, likewise, encourage people to be on the forefront of terrorist prevention, our government has slapped us in the face and said that they protect the terrorists rather than us?!? If you hesitate to report suspicious activity because you're afraid that some ambulance chasing lawyer will sue you for your diligence, who will come forward to protect us?
Here's a simple 9/11 example which could have prevented Mohammad Atta from getting on American Airlines Flight 11 and crashing the first plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The ticket agent in the Maine airport that Atta flew out of on the morning of 9/11 stated that Atta looked suspicious and had such a disgusted look of anger on his face that the agent was contemplating letting him through. Now, I'm in no way blaming the ticket agent of anything. The 9/11 plot should have and could have been stopped well in advance had the current PATRIOT Act been in place pre-9/11. However, if the agent had reported Atta's suspicious behavior to the authorities, things may have turned out differently. Let's fast forward to today and say another Atta comes through our gates, and the agent doesn't report the guy; not because he doesn't know any better and nothing like 9/11 had ever happened before but because he's AFRAID THE GUY WILL SUE HIM IS HE'S WRONG! Don't think it would happen? That's exactly what happened with the "Flying Imams" case.
An ARABIC speaking man reported these 6 "Imams" behaving suspiciously on a flight. They were speaking in Arabic about Jihad and the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They also moved around in an extremely suspicious way. Other passengers also reported this suspicious behavior. When these claims became public, the Imams along with Islamic front groups like CAIR came forward and accused the passengers or racial profiling and attempted to sue all the John Does, or unnamed passengers. The case was thrown out. However, instead of being congratulated for their diligence and courage to speak up when they saw something that looked suspicious, the Demcoratically controlled Senate has now made a bold and frightening statement. "If you see suspicious behavior, DON'T REPORT IT. Sit there, keep your mouth shut, hope and pray it's not a terrorist act, lest you open yourself up to be sued for all your worth and be branded a racist xenophobe."
I'll leave you with a chilling comment an anti-terrorist FBI agent said to Steven Emmerson. I'll have to paraphrase it because I don't remember the exact words. He said to Steve that it took a 9/11 to wake up America to what was going in the world. Then, he said, "You know what? I'm afraid it's going to take another 9/11." Why? Because people have short memories, and they've already become complacent. Actually, more the government, especially the Democrats, than the American people. I truly believe that the majority of the American people are ready and willing to do their part to prevent another terrorist attack from occurring on American soil. It is the government that has reverted back to its pre-9/11 thinking where National Security is secondary from securing the resources and votes of certain special interest groups, where fulfilling their sworn duty to protect and defend the Constitution and the people from all enemies; foreign AND domestic comes second to party politics.
It's a sad time for America.
Technorati Tags: America, United+States, 9/11, Islam, Muslim, Imam, Democrat, Congress, Senate
posted by Olah Chadasha @ 7/23/2007 11:19:00 AM
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4 Comments:
If we have another terrorist attack, people will just blame the war in Iraq. I really don't think, at this point, that it will really change anything. The government should have the nation's best interests at stake, rather than public opinion polls.
Yeah, you're totally right. Too bad that's not the case, and it's a shame that America will suffer because of it. I'm not trying to be morbid or pessimistic. It's, unfortunately, simply a fact and just a matter of time.
-OC
Great post here. I'll be travelling to the States in the fall, and worries me more than anything is not the possibility of a terrorist attack, but the no-vote on John Doe... No one will be vigilant, because they've been told not to be.
I compare it with here, were even in my podunk Galilee town, people just keep thier eyes open...
michael, it's because unlike in the States, Israelis have seen the consequences of being complacent. Until a terrorist blows himself up in a bus or in a public place, no American will allow their bags to be checked like we do here. When those things start happening then, and only then, will Americans wake up. In a way, and I hate to say this, the scope of 9/11 created a backlash. Because it was such a large event and a one time thing, Americans felt that it won't happen again. They're right. An attack on that scale is unlikely to happen any time, but it's the small recurring ones, like suicide bombings that they have to worry about, but since it hasn't happened yet, they're just on the look-out for something big.
-OC
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