pappa always said it all come down like this...

sigh, pappa always said it all come down like this...sigh, this morning when i signed on, my little AOL news box popped up to greet me.  ....whaaaat?  i did a double-take that would rival those of Nat & Natalie's in Natalie's video of "Unforgettable".  so hard as it was to swallow, it's not so hard to believe that we'd do such a thing as this...

the peace train dude, yusef islam (cat stevens), has been rerouted, interrogated, held, refused entrance to the US, and will be sent back from whence he came...because the peace-loving activist has been deemed by the powers that be that he is a threat to NATIONAL SECURITY.  gag.  cough.  sputter.

for those of you who haven't read it about, you simply must.  don't take my word for it.  but check out what the, uhm, newsources have to say.  get the scoop.  i'll wait, cuz i got sumpin' to say...

Fox News and affiliates polled various folks within 24 hrs of the events of Sept 11 on American soil, the surveys were then administered 3 days, 1 week, 3 weeks, and 2 months afterwards.   The surveys were not identical, as some questions changed to reflect information as it became widely known.  However, throughout all the surveys was one thread that became the focus of my study a bit later.

At the time, I was working on my PhD in sociology.  These data were considered to be reflective of the US population as a whole.  This does not mean that we all feel this way, exactly the same.  Rather it means that the data from the sample of folks polled are representative of the larger population.

The thread of questions that piqued my curiosity, hence the focus of my study at that time dealt with national security, and how much of your rights, invasion into your privacy, would you be willing to forfeit in the name of national security.  Would you be willing to allow the government to tap into your telephone conversations, intercept your mail (including email), and other communications, including divulgence of seemingly irrelevant information if the government thought it necessary?

Now, what is deemed necessary is a big huge gray area and can quite potentially cover a wide array of actions.  So violations of privacy and rights can fall under the umbrella, guised as ensuring our HOMELAND/national SECURITY.  Anyone ever dealing with organizations knows that it is the nature of bureaucracy that once a committee comes into being, seldom is it ever dissolved.

So, this is my opinion, the government started to feel us out immediately...would our fear weaken our stance of protecting what rights we have managed to defend successfully over the years...why, yes, it seems that with proper reason or likely reason, or show us a possible future threat...and yes we will allow all sorts of violations and infringements in the name of protection and security.

SO, is it any wonder that a man who converted to muslim (oh, horrors!) and has criticized the US-led war in Iraq....a man who has publicly criticized acts of terrorism (including 9/11 and the recent Russian school hostage situation)...a man who has founded educational systems in UK...a man who has (and continues) to donate to charitable, humane causes (half of his royalties from his recent DVD boxed set of the Majikat Tour went to the "Sept 11 Fund" to assist victims and their families )...a man who states, "crimes against innocent bystanders taken hostage in any circumstance have no foundation whatsoever in the life of Islam and the model example of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him"...a man who attempts to clarify some confusion post-Sept 11 by stating, "no right thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action:  The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity"...

well, it really is no wonder to me that this man would be deemed a threat, and his name placed on a government terrorism watch list.  Why?  Because we as citizens are more than a tad apathetic as our rights are stripped, so why should be bother ourselves when someone else's human rights are violated.

besides, he did criticize the war that most of the world is criticizing.  so there.  stomp.  pout.  that's the story, and they're sticking to it...for now anyway.

Reminds me of a quote by Martin Niemoeller, a Berlin Lutheran pastor who was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the Dachau concentration camp in 1938:

"First they came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.  Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.  Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."