Do you believe this statement: "Those who would give up freedom for security deserve neither"...?
451085
I like the way you think....Ben Franklin was first...as far as applying to today..unwarranted wire taps for "national security" the politics of fear the pres and vp employed to win? the last election  AG says pres has right to order warrantless searches of property......Sorry all of that crap pisses me off!
3176
I am not a Republican, but I play one on TV...:-) Seriously, I believe that they feel trading some freedom for more security is a wise policy.  I understand the need to feel safe, and I am generally in favor of measures that increase our security.  However, that does not extend to the Patriot Act, which I see as a slippery slope away from what America is supposed to be.
212634
I hold with Benjamin Franklin: \n    "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
658589
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."--\nThomas Jefferson \n\nPeace is won through war, and can only be truly appreciated after it has been fought, bled, and died for. Being a pacifist will make you a victim. We can't just be the "nice guy" to the world and expect to be respected or taken seriously. Would you respect someone who just kisses everyone's a*s, even after he has been repeatedly kicked in the balls? I want peace (believe it or not), but not at the expense of our national sovereignty and dignity. Simply bowing to the demands of dictators and terrorists to avoid war isn't peace, that is scarcely better than slavery. I would rather die a free man with a gun in my hands than live for a hundred years by our enemy's permission. \n\nREMEMBER 9/11\nNEVER FORGIVE! NEVER FORGET!\nPEACE THROUGH VICTORY!
987002
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety--Ben Franklin\n\nMost often paraphrased as: Whoever would trade liberty for safety doesn't deserve either one.
905520
They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.\nBenjamin Franklin\n\nThey that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.\nBenjamin Franklin
611079
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."--\nThomas Jefferson \n\nYou can't. Being a pacifist will make you a victim. Peace can only be enjoyed after it has been fought, bled, and died for. We can't just be the "nice guy" to the world and expect to be respected or taken seriously. Would you respect someone who just kisses everyone's a*s, even after he has been repeatedly kicked in the balls? I want peace (believe it or not), but not at the expense of our national sovereignty and dignity. Simply bowing to the demands of dictators and terrorists to avoid war isn't peace, that is scarcely better than slavery. I would rather die a free man with a gun in my hands than live for a hundred years by our enemy's permission. \n\nREMEMBER 9/11.\nNEVER FORGIVE. NEVER FORGET.\nPEACE THROUGH VICTORY
153608
It the scares the shit out of me ! To our ignorant friends heed the words of ben Franklin: THOSE WILLING TO GIVE UP FREEDOMS FOR SECURITY WILL HAVE NEITHER. \n\nAnd to our apathetic friends I quote Martin Niemoeller, one of the most respected Protestant leaders in WWII Germany.\n\nFirst they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--\n    because I was not a communist;\nThen they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--\n    because I was not a socialist;\nThen they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--\n    because I was not a trade unionist;\nThen they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--\n    because I was not a Jew;\nThen they came for me--\n    and there was no one left to speak out for me.
425684
I speak from across the fence on this matter, but I will let you know what I hear most often. The Patriot Act that has broadened the government's ability to seek information from it's fellow citizens has left some more liberal voters upset. They feel that the government's noose of power has grown a bit tighter, and I assume they foresee a future government domination over the people of this nation. I do not know of any firsthand accounts where someone's privacy rights have been infringed upon, or violated. Not that I wish there was, but there doesn't seem to be anyone personally hurt by the Act. Personally, I've felt that as long as man would uphold his responsibilites to treat his fellow man with love, and respect there would be no need for government at all. But we both know that we fail to do this, therefore creating a need for government. So if the privilages we enjoy so dearly seem in danger, I believe it is because of our own faults. I hope that this has been helpful.
486679
sadly people dont realise that their countrie/s freedom was never threatened....i think he is acting out of sheer insecurity to preserve ur super power status...and crush any power that may grow to their levels...bush is the wrost president ever..and to think he has some bozos convinced already...duh...
1016960
Their citizenship should be permanently revoked...let them stay in their "adopted" country. Throughout our history some MEN have stepped up to the call, whether they agreed with it or not. The cowards have always ran...I wouldn't want them next to me in combat anyway.\n\nI find it funny that liberals/cowards always talk about their "freedoms" and "rights." How do you think you got them? Some BRAVE soul fought, and died, for them. Will you fight for them? I doubt it.\n\nSo, please feel free to take your sorry a$$ to another country and don't come back.
702591
They shouldn't.\n\nIt allows them too much freedom to commit new crimes and to follow their victims.\n\nThey're suppossed to be being punished, right?
957590
As much as I'd like to say that I wouldn't, because I am opposed to those actions, I'm sure I would find myself being somewhat hypocritical and saying that we should take those actions.  It's very hard to say.  I just believe that taking away civil liberties is a slippery slope.  It's just hard to balance freedom and safety.  I know what I think now, but I'm human, and I can't say that my opinions wouldn't change with another big attack.
756886
Sacrificing morality?  How about the Constitution?   I cant wait until all these neo cons realize that we were sold a bill of goods as far as terrorists go...and how much they sacrificed for a little bit of "safety"  After all, Homeland Security is big business.  It's not just you, they are off their rockers.
638339
It's kind of a false dilemma.  Security and freedom can coexist, it just makes it a little harder.  I personally would rather be able to read, write, think, or say whatever I want without sanction than feel secure under surveillance.
819596
What a brilliant topic!  You coulld write heaps on this.  Three items I'd be prepared to give up? Let's see, I object to too much government interference in my life, but acknowledge the need for a central organising power.  So, perhaps look at what changes have happened, especially since 9/11, to personal freedoms. And what people have seemed to accept, more or less willingly, in order to ensure safety.  It's much easier to list three items you WOULDN"T give up.  I wouldn't give up right to free speech, for example.  It's too important.
928164
Me? Absolutely none.\n\nThey that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin\n\nOne of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. – Thomas B. Reed (1886)\n\nIf you are not free to choose wrongly and irresponsibly, you are not free at all. – Jacob Hornberger (1995)\n\nGovernment is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. – George Washington\n\nThe true danger is when Liberty is nibbled away, for expedients. – Edmund Burke (1899)\n\nThe evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it. – John Hay (1872)\n\nThe best government is the one that charges you the least blackmail for leaving you alone. – Thomas Rudmose-Brown\n\nI should have loved freedom, I believe, at all times, but in the time in which we live I am ready to worship it. – Alexis De Toqueville\n\nThe whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed – and hence clamorous to be led to safety – by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. – H.L. Mencken