By Tim Baldwin
Few things leave a vivid lasting memory in our minds. 9/11 is one for most. I remember the day well. I was a first year law student, walking from the parking lot to the building when I heard a third year student on his cell phone asking frantically, “was it a bomb or what!” I walked into the common area; classes were cancelled; everyone was standing around what had just happened. Shortly after, we watched the second plane fly into the other tower. The events of 9/11 changed America and the world.
Out of this tragedy, the federal government immediately created national security bureaucracies that many people later recognized are dangerous to our liberties: spying on citizens, searching our property, listening to our communications – all without warrants. This also seeped into local law enforcement, as DHS provided training and funding to them. Thanks to people like Ron and Rand Paul, the federal government has rolled back these tactics, somewhat.
Security is important, yes; but free societies cannot accept totalitarian tactics for the sake of feeling safe. Liberty is costly. It prioritizes privacy and constitutionally-limited government; requires self-awareness and responsibility; and has inherent risks. 9/11 is an unforgettable day, but let’s not forgot the thousands of lives sacrificed yesteryear to purchase the liberty we have come to take for granted and must continue to protect.
By Joe Carbonari
I read a bit about the memorial grounds where one of the 9/11 flights went down. Sobering. How would I have done on that plane? I hope I would have done well. They did.
They chose to act. Truly, in the end they took control of their lives. They gave up theirs to save others. They took control by taking it down.
Let’s hope that we now, as a people, would do as well. Let’s also hope that we will not have to … that we will begin to turn the tide of violence and disorder that is growing in the world. Adding a nuclear armed Iran to the mix seems unwise.
An understanding with Iran is necessary. We don’t trust them and they don’t trust us. They’ve got to believe that we will strike pre-emptively if we see them going for the bomb. We’ve got to mean it regardless of who says what in public. It is rational thinking.
Unfortunately, extremist Islam tends to the irrational. It is unacceptably violent on much too large a scale. It is a perversion of Islam and must be dealt with from within. Islam must purge itself.
9/11 showed us at our best. Islam’s best now need to come forward and fight the battle for those minds that only they can control. It is their duty to do it. It is ours to assist.