We are now interested in preventing attacks. We are going out and finding people who may attack America and arresting them. We have arrested or detained over 1000 people here in America in order to determine what they know.

President Bush touts as triumph that citizens are being detained (not formally arrested, as they are not charged with breaking the law) based solely on their politics. Watch what you say; free speech seems to be a thing of the past.

Nothing in my life has given me more sadness than the thought that as my children grow up, the sight of an M-16 will be a familiar part of a trip to the airport. To believe that blame for this rests anywhere but squarely on the shoulders of our country's leaders is simply “passing the buck,” to put it mildly, or self-delusion and mindless jingoism, bluntly.

When I was 14, my father gave me a Swiss Army Knife keychain. It's about 4cm long. It features a nail file, a tiny (but handy) pair of scissors, and a knife which can hardly be used as a letter opener. Forgetting to take it off my keychain before going to the airport is now an act of terror (or at least grounds for confiscation and a $10,000 fine).

The federal government has granted its enforcers the power to monitor the citizens it is employed to protect and serve, at its own discretion and without the prerequesite of probable cause of any crime. Privacy is no longer a right in this land of the free. Orwell was only 17 years early.

I should just forget about putting my Swiss Army Knife back on my keyring. After all, the letter opener will be of little use soon; I should expect my mail to arrive in my mailbox already opened. (Do you imagine the FBI won't add me to their lists after reading this? To remove any lingering doubt, let me mention that I'm a dissident sand nigger.) I'd imagine I mightn’t even be allowed to carry my keychain on the street, except that I can count on the NRA to protect the right of each of us to keep even lethal weapons in our homes (and to let our children play with them with or without or knowledge) for years to come.

When I was a child, I proudly hung a US flag in my bedroom, just beside the window, visible from the street. I've never shown it but the greatest respect and honor. Today, it still hangs properly, but I've never been less proud of my country's flag than I am now.

White men who call themselves patriots proudly display the flag of the Confederacy, which sought to usurp the federal government. Meanwhile, brown Americans who have never flown anything but the Stars and Stripes are victims of harassment, prejudice, hatecrime, even cold-blooded murder, in this haven of freedom and progress.

The New York Times reported, “today was a continuation of the new normalcy: National Guard troops with M-16 rifles patrolling the bridges....” Are we secure yet? Do you feel safe now? Or should we add a few more truckloads of assault rifles and build a few billion dollars worth of war machines? Is there any way that such things can result in fewer deaths and less misery?

A final note, for all you god-lovers out there: the only fundamental difference between your god and Islam's god is that every Sunday you call it God, and 5 times a day they call it Allah. Remember, everybody, Satan laughs when we kill each other. Peace is the only way.