Rick wrote:

No, it doesn't sound like a Bushism, it sounds like a soundbite fragment
that is resounding throughout the echo chamber, unimpeded by context and
background.

It sounds an awful lot like things Bush says from time-to-time --
especially since just shooting lots of people seems to be strategy that
we need to "stay the course" with in Iraq.

Do you honestly think that the Guard troops have had no training
in the legalities of the rules of engagement? Do you honestly think that
those rules and the orders issued were designed with no regard for the law
and the constitution? Do you honestly think...actually that's the problem. I
don't believe that you are thinking this through, honestly or not. Maybe you
could do some research on the full statements by the Governor, the orders
issued, and the training that the Guard receives.

Look, after reading the USA-PATRIOT act and seeing the reports of the
bizarre things that our government has done after 9/11 (Guitanamo Bay,
Abu-Garabe, TSA systematically ignoring my personal 4th amendment rights
on multiple occasions, bizarre popup TFR's enforced by a lot of
anti-aircraft weaponry, the occasional swarm of police officers pulling
guns on my friend and shooting my friend's brother's dog in Hollywood
Florida for no good reason, and, just for the hell of it, some of new
IT-related rules that have come down the pipe lately), I can no longer
trust the government as-a-whole to respect it's citizens. Politicians
giving orders to ignore one more bit of the Bill of Rights is very
believable, and very frightening.

The individual military and police folks that I talk to seem OK, but
with the changes in search & seizure law that I've been observing, their
character is the only thing that keeps them from being dangerous. With
the constitution being ignored a little more each day, idiotic
leadership at the top, "shoot to kill" stupidity in the middle, and a
few normal folks who have to follow orders at the bottom -- what's left
of the restraint and freedom that made this country great?

All I can do is bitch on the Internet and hope to jolt a few other
people out of their complacency so that they will vote more responsibly
the next time around.

-Luke