Re: (OT) Pending Anti-Terrorism Legislation in the US could impact us all

[srawls]

Before I begin, let me state that I am very patriotic, and it is because of that I write what I do:

Maybe I'm overly paranoid. Maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe I'm even wrong. But I am certainly amazed by the number of people who have no idea of what is occurring in Washington right now.

Over reacting ... of course not. It was Benjamin Franklin (one of our founding fathers) who said: "He who would give up essential liberty for some temperary safety deserves niether liberty nor safety." This is why I am very wary of any piece of law that would somehow allow the government to conduct themselves without evidence that would withstand in court. Also, about the computer crimes: When I saw on slashdot that this was true, I almost didn't believe it. I think this is wrong and the punishment certainly does not fit the crime ... indeed, we already have laws against such acts of 'cracking,' why change them now?

I have yet to hear a credible reason from the Federal Government as to the causes of this. Geo. W. Bush's canned attack on freedom sounds weak to me, some patriotic propaganda. Ah, well ...

Patriotic propaganda? No, mabey overly idealistic, but I like it. Certainly, the reason these terrorist hate us so much is not because of us, but our ideals, our beliefs ... our freedoms. So, in a sense, it was an attack on freedom.

The 15 year old, sophmore programmer,
Stephen Rawls