The point of the article being that FBI agents were sent to question this retired guy mouthing off at his gym. That's just insane. The FBI is supposed to be staffed by non-morons, right? I mean, they advertise intelligence right there in their name. Sure, everyone in the U.S. could potentially be the roommate of a terrorist, but even I realize that the odds are pretty damn small, and I don't go around calling myself the Harlock Bureau of Intelligence.
"My god! This man worked at Pac Bell for thirty years! And he lifts weights! I bet he's totally a terrorist!"
See? It just doesn't work.
The whole idea of questioning thousands of people is ridiculous, and offensive. Sure, this might provide some information, but it will certainly piss off a lot of people, brand the FBI as a gang of thugs, and make us wonder if this is the best that they can do? Our intelligence agencies have to resort to asking people whether or not they're terrorists? Great job, guys. Be sure to bring your Truth Rays.
Why not just have a question on our federal income tax forms, something like "Are you now, or have you ever been, a terrorist? No, honestly, really?" Place it right after the question about contributing to the president's re-election fund, and I'm sure it will be taken just as seriously.
The argument that we should just accept the loss of a few rights (temporarily, of course) because we're at war doesn't hold up, for one simple reason: we're not at war. Bush saying over and over that we're at war with terrorism isn't the same thing as a real, official declaration of war. Those pesky things are awfully inconvenient for the president, as they tend to involve Congress. And we didn't need one for Vietnam, right? Ok, I'm wandering. My point is that we're being told, multiple times a week, that we're fighting a war, and we're not. We're fighting a "conflict," or a "police action," but not a real, honest-to-goodness declared War. Let's at least make this thing official before we start harassing people for not being patriotic enough, ok? Because one nice thing an official declaration of war does is involve Congress, as I mentioned. So that whole concept of Checks and Balances comes into play, and that will, uh, make everything better.
Look! I'm shaking my fist at the ruling class!
Whatever. It will all right itself. I mean, gas prices came back down, right?