Drones: Do I have a line in the sand?

[politicaljunkie41910]

60. Thanks for responding to my ranting in such a rational manner. I applaud you for that.

First let me say that I was not talking to you specifically but since the majority of the posts on this topic the past couple of days had been going along your same line of thinking, and the few that were going the other direction seemed to get shouted down, I was expecting more of the same, and was speaking to that school of thought which has dominated this topic in other posts.

I'm also sorry if I interpreted your OP "line in the sand" as a veiled 'threat' that you might have to do something if people didn't come around to your line of thinking. People on this board can be really ugly and accusatory if you have an opinion that differs from them.

I still don't think that the issue is as black and white as you seem to think it is, but I understand that people when their minds are made up can easily close their minds off to other peoples likewise principled opinions. But let us not question one another's moral convictions because we don't see eye to eye. I assure you, I believe myself to be a highly moral and principled person. But the world changed on Sept 11 and even the courts have given a lot of latitude to the Executive Branch in dealing with the '21st Century threat that our nation (and others) faces in the form of non-state sponsored terrorism that threatens nations and economies and I don't apologize for a threat that is real not imagined. Also people have said some pretty crazy things the past couple of days and quick to throw out the slippery slope that we're all headed for as if we aren't capable of rational thought and that if we take an inch that means we 'must' take a mile.

I think that is why we should elect people of character and that character matters (although by now it's fairly obvious that we probably wouldn't define character the same way but at least we're talking rationally). I do think however, that our nation has a right to defend itself against ALL enemies foreign and domestic and when an American renounces its Government and conspires with our enemies to attack this nation or it citizens, at home or abroad, we have a duty and a right to protect ourselves and eliminate that threat if we cannot capture it and bring it to justice without putting more people's lives at risk.