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Oppose Imminent Patriot Act Extension?

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MarketAndChurch
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24 May 2011, 2:26 am

Orwell wrote:
MarketAndChurch wrote:
yes but then 911 happened and the world changed.

As I said: fell asleep at the helm. Bush was negligent in pursuing bin Laden.

Besides, the threat of terrorism is grossly exaggerated. More Americans die every single year from illegible handwriting on drug prescriptions than died in the entire decade 2000-2010 from terrorism. Unfortunately, people are too irrational to overcome basic cognitive biases like the availability heuristic when evaluating risks.


yes but the bush and obama admin would easily argue that we are safe because of those policies... the world changed, and we changed, and because of it, we've stayed safe would be the line from Washington.

Can you prove otherwise? It's not easy, especially when the White House occasionally reports how many attacks it has been able to stop from being carried out.


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Orwell
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24 May 2011, 7:46 am

MarketAndChurch wrote:
yes but the bush and obama admin would easily argue that we are safe because of those policies... the world changed, and we changed, and because of it, we've stayed safe would be the line from Washington.

Here's the thing though: the world didn't change. At least not in any fundamental, terrorism-is-more-dangerous-now-than-it-was-before way.

Quote:
Can you prove otherwise? It's not easy, especially when the White House occasionally reports how many attacks it has been able to stop from being carried out.

Even if we are naive and generous enough to take at completely face value all the attacks that have allegedly been prevented, the war on terror has undoubtedly cost many more lives than it has saved, so it has not been worth it (even ignoring the enormous financial costs and the violations of civil liberties).


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ruveyn
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24 May 2011, 8:09 am

Orwell wrote:
Even if we are naive and generous enough to take at completely face value all the attacks that have allegedly been prevented, the war on terror has undoubtedly cost many more lives than it has saved, so it has not been worth it (even ignoring the enormous financial costs and the violations of civil liberties).


Has your freedom of speech been infringed lately? If so how and when.

ruveyn