I do think that we crossed some lines post 9/11. It's likely that the US had always been violating the constitution by spying on American citizens, or were engaging in torture or secreting people off to black sites and indefinitely detaining them without trial, but after 9/11 it was all out in the open. It was sanctioned by the government. It became policy.
In the decades before 9/11 the US government had the decency to lie to the American public about it. They told us that America was so great because it would never do those kinds of things. Those types of activities were held up as examples of horrible atrocities communist nations subjected their citizens to.
Even as evidence came up from time to time showing that the US government didn't always live up to those ideals they continued to be expressed as what this country stood for. Post 9/11 that was no longer the case. This might be a more honest American government, but I can't help feeling like we've lost something.
In the decades before 9/11 the US government had the decency to lie to the American public about it. They told us that America was so great because it would never do those kinds of things. Those types of activities were held up as examples of horrible atrocities communist nations subjected their citizens to.
Even as evidence came up from time to time showing that the US government didn't always live up to those ideals they continued to be expressed as what this country stood for. Post 9/11 that was no longer the case. This might be a more honest American government, but I can't help feeling like we've lost something.