Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair met opposition party leaders Tuesday to discuss new legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of July 7 bombings.
The legislation would outlaw "indirect incitement" of terrorism, including praising those who carry out attacks, to counter extremist Islamist clerics accused of radicalizing disaffected Muslim youth in Britain.
The law also would make it illegal to receive training in terrorist techniques in Britain or abroad, or to plan an attack and activities such as acquiring bomb-making instructions on the Internet.
After the talks, Michael Howard, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, insisted Britain's main political parties were united in their determination to tackle terrorism.
*ahem* As yath so eloquently stated; "<yath> That sounds like so much pandering bullshit."
pan·der
intr.v. pan·dered, pan·der·ing, pan·ders
1. To act as a go-between or liaison in sexual intrigues; function as a procurer.
2. To cater to the lower tastes and desires of others or exploit their weaknesses: “He refused to pander to nostalgia and escapism” (New York Times).
Yes, let's put further restrictions on speech and thought rather than actually adress the actual causes of "terrorism". Let's take steps in the wrong direction because the ignorant sheep will gladly trade freedom for the illusion of safety.
Please make sure you've read my previous post on Mayor Livingstone to see a politician who is actually addressing the actual causes of "terrorism" and making an attempt to approach this problem from an educated, realistic angle rather than one of, as yath said, pandering bullshit to peddle illusions safety to ignorant sheep while making the situation increasingly worse and while also stripping away ever increasing amounts of civil liberties and freedom and putting more power in the hands of the government.
Now, I hate to bring up this quote, because it's not actually by Caesar... but sometimes these quotes still have interesting merit on their own, regardless of authorship. So I'll just include here the relevant part of the quote:
Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so.
Think about it.
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