Talia Shifron
To You Editor, Fused
On Tuesday January 20, 2009, President Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States. After Obama took the presidential oath, he spoke to the American people about how we as a nation are going to move forward and change the problems with this country.
During his speech, Obama makes sure to discuss that the task ahead to change this nation is great however that we all need to work together to make it happen. He mentions that not everything can be done by the government and that all Americans need to come together to bring about change. One of the things that he discusses is terrorism and that we will say no to terrorism together as a nation, and that the government can not keep instilling fear into people trough the patriot act to take away their first amendment freedoms.
Since September 11, 2001 former president George W. Bush has convinced Americans that through the patriot act, they can all be safe and nothing can go wrong. However, Obama understands that this is not the case and wants to change this and let the country know this. We can no longer live in fear while our rights are being compromised in front of our very eyes. Bush was able to convince Americans that if rights just keep being taken away and the government can monitor our phone calls, and our conversations, and ultimately our every move, we will no longer have any terrorism. However, eventually if this continues, Americans will lose all of their first amendment freedoms that they should automatically be guaranteed in the first amendment.
Obama wants to change the way the patriot act works, and work together with all American people to stop terrorism instead of compromising their rights that should be guaranteed. If Obama is able to do this, slowly Americans will gain back their rights that have been compromised for the last eight years under former president Bush. The sad part is that Americans haven’t even realized how many rights they have lost because of the way Bush has been able to twist people’s mindsets.
Ultimately, the question ahead remains how Obama will be able to stop terrorism and stop compromising Americans freedoms. There is a different way that terrorism can be stopped and Obama needs to find it while working alongside with the American people. Change needs to happen in the next four or eight years, and with this change Americans should start gaining the rights they’ve sacrificed for the last eight years.
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In his speech, Obama never mentions the Patriot Act or the First Amendment. He mentions the rights of citizens only when referring to the framers of the Constitution, and he talks about potential infringement of rights in light of governmental expedience, not totalitarian control.
As I understand the Patriot Act, your rights will only be compromised if you are under suspicion of terrorism. To prevent your rights being violated, why not merely abstain from participation in terrorist activities? I'd rather be safe from terrorists than safe from investigation. Government investigators don't use biological weapons. Even if the government does investigate me, I still retain my freedom of speech—I just need to keep making sure I don't say anything criminal or treasonous.
Regarding Bush, I think the person in this country giving the most significant credit to the former administration is Obama himself—
—He has retained Robert Gates, the Secretary of Defense under Bush, the man in charge of the executive department responsible for enforcing and utilizing the USA PATRIOT Act.
—He has chosen Timothy Geithner, former President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, to serve as Treasury Secretary, against the wishes of Republicans reluctant to admit Bush's reliance on Geithner's expertise in his decisions regarding economic recovery and financial rescue.
—He has decided to follow Bush's three-year withdrawal from Iraq instead of the 16-month plan he campaigned on.
—In an ABC interview, he declared that he would follow Cheney's advice regarding interrogation tactics: retain all forms of questioning that are not deemed ineffective or unethical upon review.
—And let his voting record speak for itself: while campaigning for the Presidency, he voted in the Senate in favor of increased wiretapping, as outlined in the Bush-endorsed Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Obama is, in areas regarding national security, foreign policy, and even the economy, expressing his silent support of Bush in those areas by continuing Bush's policies.
Undeniably, Obama will strive to uphold our First Amendment rights. He has sworn an oath to uphold the entire Constitution. But he will not sacrifice our common safety for the sake of his personal ideology—he won't throw out the PATRIOT Act, he can't untwist people's mindsets, and he mustn't retreat in the War on Terror. Ultimately, he will do his best to protect our lives and our liberties, so that each of us may be free to pursue happiness.
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