jessa_lynne | because i could not find your email address..., 07-30-06 1:30am ter•ror•ism
n.
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
The Nazis would organize book burnings, the Soviets would throw dissenters into Gulags, the KKK would burn crosses in peoples front lawns, and apparently in Corunna, Michigan some followers of an impotent president decided to burn some political signs in my parents front lawn. Who would have thought cowardly scare tactics like this still exist?
Jessa says- impotent? Do you mean incompetent? Because we are talking about Bush, not Dole, right? Heh. And, although I get the whole comparison, you might want to reconsider how extreme the comparisons are. Yeah, it's dumb, but it's not the Nazis or anything.
You can burn as many books, crosses, and signs as you want, but you can never destroy the ideas behind these physical objects. Ideas are strong, they can be weakened, they can be insulted, but they can never be completely destroyed. And in the case of the two Impeach Bush signs being burned, it simply strengthens the idea ten fold.
Jessa says- “Ideas are strong, they can be weakened, they can be insulted, but they can never be completely destroyed.” Ummm, let's see… I would say something more along the lines of “Ideas endure: they may be challenged or opposed, but they cannot be completely destroyed.” And… quotation around ‘Impeach Bush' don't say “the two Impeach Bush signs” because you actually haven't yet introduced them, and I'd strongly suggest changing “strengthens the idea ten fold” to something else, because well, what idea? You have to introduce the article before referring to it with a pronoun, or you will just confuse the reader. And the “ten-fold” part is hyperbole. Ugh.
Some people would say having Impeach Bush signs on your lawn is near treasonous or asking for it. Americans, however, have a little document called the Bill of Rights. You may have heard about it, the First Amendment guaranteeing Freedom of Speech?
Jessa says- Quotations around “asking for it”. The rest? Well, it comes off as smug and annoying. And we've all heard it before. Do I agree? Yes. Will it drive readers away and make them side against you regardless of that? Yes.
It isn't even about the president anymore, or the War in Iraq, or the War on Terrorism, or the Patriot Act, or the number of Republican leaders in corruption scandals, or the outing of Valerie Plame, or the abusing of presidential powers, or the repression of scientific fact, or the endorsement and rationalization of bigotry and racism, all of these pale in comparison to a direct attack on our civil rights.
Jessa says- Yay. But a few things. Holy run-on sentence, Batman! Try: “It isn't even about the president anymore, or the War in Iraq, or the War on Terrorism, or the Patriot Act, or the number of Republican leaders in corruption scandals, or the outing of Valerie Plame, or the abusing of presidential powers, or the repression of scientific fact, or the endorsement and rationalization of bigotry and racism. All of these pale in comparison to a direct attack on our civil rights.” And my only other comment is, wait isn't the Patriot Act an attack on our civil rights? And you do realize that the government didn't burn the signs, right? So it's not them. It's not Big Brother. It's some douche bag from your town.
Some people might say that I'm overreacting. But the fact remains that some individuals took it upon themselves to drive to my parents house, spray two Impeach Bush signs with lighter fluid, set them on fire, and run away like cowards. This wasn't a case of a couple of stupid kids vandalizing a person's lawn. This was a case of pre-meditated arson while criminally trespassing on private property. This was also an attempt to encroach upon my parents Freedom of Speech.
Jessa says- You do realize that half your readers at this point will say ‘exactly, freedom of speech' at this point, right? Not that they are right or that you have to change anything there. I'm just saying.
When you go to the polls this November, remember the kind of people that still support President Bush and his GOP counter-parts. These are the same kind of people that took it upon themselves to torch two Impeach Bush signs on my parent's front lawn.
And about the signs, don't worry, we plan on getting replacements.
Jessa says- Yay. Last two (three) paragraphs are perfect.
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