These are the times of silence amid the uproar. There's plenty of people talking, on TV, in the papers, on the web, but sometimes I wonder about the intimidation from our government. Is it just paranoia or should I worry about my reading habits. I recently watched "Weather Underground" (2003), a documentary about the 1960s-70s group that bombed all sorts of government offices. It was a very startling feeling to listen to them talk about the "revolution" and how commited they were to it. I don't know. Maybe it's the talk I had with a woman who was in her twenties during WWII. About the current Iraq occupation: "We just have to trust the government about why we went to war. We just have to say goodbye to some of our liberties in order to be safe. There are reasons the government can't tell us everything. We're safer now."
I wanted to weep. The "my country, right or wrong" attitude, the "government knows best" view that I thought was put to rest after Watergate. I guess every generation needs to relearn some lessons. Or will we?