I tend to believe I am a very pragmatic person, not given to rabble rousing or chicken little warnings about the sky falling. However, I am fearful that the true legacy of 911 will not be the tragic deaths of thousands of people, the heroic sacrifice of hundreds of heros, or the heinous acts misguided fanatics. I believe that the legacy could easily be that it was the start of the largest shift away from personal freedom this country has ever seen.

Should we be trading our rights and privacy for a mythical promise of safety. I do not think so. I do not think that Governments have the ability to watch dog themselves to prevent the abuse of power. I point to several easy to see cases in point: The implementation of the Wetlands Protection Act, IRS (or worse here in CA is the Franchise Tax Board), Branch Dividians, Ruby Ridge, and on and on. These agencies have shown themselves more concerned with the legalities than with the rights the individual. Yet none of these agencies have had the broad (and poorly defined) powers that the Homeland Security seems to be gathering. If I were a terrorist I believe that right now I would consider 911 a total success, not because people died but because a nation has learned to fear and is reacting from that fear and not from their beliefs and mores.

/me Steps down off soapbox, kneels and says a prayer for the nation I love so well.