photos by Gary D. Brune (c) copyright 2008

The gravity of 9-11-01 still rings through this country as we honor the people who lost their lives on this day. The Paradise Veteran’s Council will set up a circle of flags at the Veteran’s Hall today.

The gravity of this day is personal for me, as the radio reminds me what happened seven years ago, just like it reported the events that Monday. My wife and I were as shocked about the events as they transpired as the rest of this country, just as those of us who do remember where we were when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

The gravity of 9-11 reverberates through the land today. One of the first actions congress subsequently took was to pass the Patriot Act. A mindset was imposed on us -national security is now as much a concern as the Bill of Rights. Our computers and emails are monitored, cheaper high definition cameras are now on the street, in police officers’ badges, and will soon be linked with their tazer weapons.

The result is that technology has, in effect, obsoleted the Constitution of the United States. The citizens are still afraid, and think nothing of going through airport screenings. Their common line of reasoning is that as long as they do nothing wrong, they have nothing to worry about.

Balderdash! The privacy of the American citizen should be more precious than their paycheck, more guarded than our borders, and more of an ideal to them than the Bill of Rights.