Ridecamp: RE: [RC] [RC] TERRORIST MAGGOTTS

It is hard for me to put into words how I feel.  One of my best friends is
serving as a nurse and was just deployed (can't say where but you all know).
And I have two boys serving in the US Navy.  One was over there and came
back with the USS Enterprise and I just received this email from one of them
(he to is in an undisclosed location over there).  What I am asking is
please be very careful in choosing your words, no matter what your opinion
is, some of us are closer than other to the subject matter.  And yes,
everyone has an opinion, but at times, those opinions need to be worded VERY
carefully.

Here is what my son wrote.

Hello everyone,

    how are you?  I am doing o.k!!!!  Have been out to sea for 107 days
straight!!!!  That is a long time!!!  I hope we will get to hit a port soon!
Matt and I are just taking it day by day!  I sat around today and realized
the significance of the situation I am in!  we are out here defending our
country making sacrifices and I wonder if anybody back home really
appreciates and supports what we are doing!  Do the Americans really care?
am I doing this for a reason.... and then I think...I should be proud, there
would be no America (land of the free) and none of
you guys would have your freedom if it was not for people like me making
sacrifices everyday.  Sometimes I have to give myself a pat on the back!
Sometimes it just seems like everyone back home takes their freedom for
granted and could care less about the sacrifices that we are making and
doesn't really care about what we are doing.  I put myself in harms way for
every single American citizen!  That I can stand proud about and have earned
my right to call myself an American citizen!!!

(I left my son's name out purposely)

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Joe Long
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 12:04 PM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] TERRORIST MAGGOTTS


On Wed, 12 Jun 2002 20:54:39 -0500, "ALISON MUELLER"
<lochwood_acres@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>>Larry Lewis www.aerc75@xxxxxxxxx
>>I cannot help myself, I must post about the lady upset that the terrorist
>>maggotts are being treated unfairly. ...

>AMEN BROTHER!!!!!!!

I wrote a reply to Larry yesterday, but deleted it without sending as
it was off-topic.  But, I hope I'll be forgiven for writing this
off-topic post this once.

Just two points, but important ones:

1.  The terrorists are not nice people, but they are people, human
beings, not maggots.

2.  The reason we cherish and defend human rights isn't to protect the
guilty, but to protect thee and me.  If everyone the government
suspected of a crime, or charged with a crime, or wanted to lock up as
a suspected terrorist, was actually guilty, then we wouldn't need our
civil rights.  We wouldn't even need trials and juries.  But the
government is not omniscient, and it makes mistakes.  Only by
guaranteeing civil rights to everyone, even the scum of the earth, can
we protect ourselves.  I object to denying rights to terrorists
because I don't want to lose them myself.



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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=