Post by davep02 on Nov 11, 2007 22:13:27 GMT -5
Dave Pusar
English III Honors – Period 2
Mr. Cheddar
Word Count: 492
The American Way Becomes the Bush Way: A Look at President Bush’s Administration
Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Lincoln explains that America can only be destroyed by corruption inside our own government. In today’s society, terrorism is a major threat to democracy and America’s overall safety. In response to world terrorism, America created a crisis by invading Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars although originally supported have become more unpopular as they have dragged on. The government has passed several acts to stop terrorist activities. Although the principles of the acts are moral, they take away some rights of Americans which in turn damage the purpose of these acts.
The Bush administration is not consulting with the ideology of the American people or even his own party on several issues. George W. Bush said, “The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass the test.” Bush explains that he strongly believed in his military plan. However, he has become very doctrinaire in his actions regarding the war. As a result of his stubbornness, he effectively lost the support of the American people concerning the war.
Furthermore, the American government now threatens that a world war is imminent if the Iran government acquires nuclear technology (Stolberg). This intense rhetoric about nuclear war by Bush does not allow the world to feel that we will work with them. It alienates other countries and makes us look unnecessarily aggressive. Also, the Bush administration is not taking into account the non-willingness of American’s to support further military action.
The government has implemented several acts to protect America from terrorist groups such as the Patriot Act. Although, “The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers [it] represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy and democratic traditions in U.S. history” (“The USA PATRIOT Act”) The bill was designed to find terrorist activity to ultimately ensure America’s freedom, but the bill potentially violates American’s personal freedoms. The bill can be ambiguous about how far to go in monitoring terrorist activities which can give too much power to the government to create even more radical decisions that could limit the personal rights of Americans in the future.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller shows how a society created and maintained an extreme and ultimately immoral consensus to try to revive Puritanism. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams becomes the leader of an immoral witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. The witch hunt represented a movement to establish Puritanism, which in today’s society would represent the goal to attain freedom in the war against terrorism. However, the tyranny of President Bush in America’s government and in Abigail in The Crucible does not allow a peace to be established. On the contrary, it only produces more chaos and further creates fear and mistrust in our society.
Works Cited:
Stolberg, Sheryl G. "Nuclear-Armed Iran Risks World War, Bush Says." The New York Times 18 Oct. 2007. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18prexy.html>.
"The USA PATRIOT Act." EFF:USA PATRIOT. 9 Nov. 2007 <http://w2.eff.org/patriot/>.
English III Honors – Period 2
Mr. Cheddar
Word Count: 492
The American Way Becomes the Bush Way: A Look at President Bush’s Administration
Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” Lincoln explains that America can only be destroyed by corruption inside our own government. In today’s society, terrorism is a major threat to democracy and America’s overall safety. In response to world terrorism, America created a crisis by invading Iraq and Afghanistan. These wars although originally supported have become more unpopular as they have dragged on. The government has passed several acts to stop terrorist activities. Although the principles of the acts are moral, they take away some rights of Americans which in turn damage the purpose of these acts.
The Bush administration is not consulting with the ideology of the American people or even his own party on several issues. George W. Bush said, “The resolve of our great nation is being tested. But make no mistake, we will show the world that we will pass the test.” Bush explains that he strongly believed in his military plan. However, he has become very doctrinaire in his actions regarding the war. As a result of his stubbornness, he effectively lost the support of the American people concerning the war.
Furthermore, the American government now threatens that a world war is imminent if the Iran government acquires nuclear technology (Stolberg). This intense rhetoric about nuclear war by Bush does not allow the world to feel that we will work with them. It alienates other countries and makes us look unnecessarily aggressive. Also, the Bush administration is not taking into account the non-willingness of American’s to support further military action.
The government has implemented several acts to protect America from terrorist groups such as the Patriot Act. Although, “The USA PATRIOT Act broadly expands law enforcement's surveillance and investigative powers [it] represents one of the most significant threats to civil liberties, privacy and democratic traditions in U.S. history” (“The USA PATRIOT Act”) The bill was designed to find terrorist activity to ultimately ensure America’s freedom, but the bill potentially violates American’s personal freedoms. The bill can be ambiguous about how far to go in monitoring terrorist activities which can give too much power to the government to create even more radical decisions that could limit the personal rights of Americans in the future.
In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, Miller shows how a society created and maintained an extreme and ultimately immoral consensus to try to revive Puritanism. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams becomes the leader of an immoral witch hunt in Salem, Massachusetts. The witch hunt represented a movement to establish Puritanism, which in today’s society would represent the goal to attain freedom in the war against terrorism. However, the tyranny of President Bush in America’s government and in Abigail in The Crucible does not allow a peace to be established. On the contrary, it only produces more chaos and further creates fear and mistrust in our society.
Works Cited:
Stolberg, Sheryl G. "Nuclear-Armed Iran Risks World War, Bush Says." The New York Times 18 Oct. 2007. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/washington/18prexy.html>.
"The USA PATRIOT Act." EFF:USA PATRIOT. 9 Nov. 2007 <http://w2.eff.org/patriot/>.