Oh (Big) brother

The idea of liberal indoctrination in university classrooms is not a new one to me. I am actually in the process of finishing a book by a fellow conservative, Ben Shapiro, on this very topic. But until recently, I never had experienced the phenomenon first-hand. \nThe rhetoric spewed forth was not from the mouth of a professor or instructor, however, but from a group presentation discussing privacy issues in information technology -- no doubt the product of liberal teaching here at IU. To be fair, not all of the group members seemed to support these ideas. \nI entered class the day of the incident deprived of sleep -- I had just bought the addictive video game "Tiger Woods 2004" -- and had missed breakfast. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to sitting through an hour-long presentation. \nMy mind was wandering when I heard the first comment that really irked me. The exact phrasing escapes my mind, but it alluded to the Bush administration sending thousands of our young men and women to die for U.S. oil interests.\nWhoa. What does that have to do with privacy issues? The first thing that popped into my head was, "Which crazy liberal professor filled your head with this nonsense?"\nThis comment in particular upset me because my brother is heading to Iraq for a second time. The idea that someone could believe our president would send my brother and others to Iraq only to protect our oil interests infuriates me -- another mindless theory perpetuated by the left with no factual backing of any kind. But, for the sake of the class, I decided to remain silent and keep listening.\nAnd the rhetoric kept flowing. Next up to bash was the Patriot Act. The speaker for the presentation actually compared the act to "Big Brother" in George Orwell's novel "1984." The speaker neglected the fact that a person would need to set off one of the imposed "red flags" before law enforcement officials could even view the person's private information, whereas Big Brother watched over everyone at all times. \nOnce again, for the sake of the class, I was quiet while my blood continued to boil.\nThe next comment was from a different member of the group during the question and answer session. This member perpetuated the myth that regarding the Patriot Act, Republicans are for control while Democrats are for freedom. The logic that backed this comment escapes me. The Patriot Act, which allows for broader government powers concerning investigating citizens, passed through both the House and Senate by an overwhelming majority, with only one dissenting voice in the Senate's vote. At this point in the presentation, I was enraged enough.\nEvery issue addressed in the presentation had a central theme -- the protection and preservation of our liberties as we know them. War was brought against a repressive regime in Iraq to crush an imminent and growing threat. Saddam had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people before and was looking for nuclear weapons, no doubt to use them against the United States, Israel or our European allies. If we only wanted to control oil resources, we would have seen a direct effect at the gas pump, which we obviously have not seen. \nWhether professors or liberals want you to know it or not, the Bush administration is trying to preserve the freedoms we enjoy every day. The Patriot Act may have some flaws, but without procedures for seeking out terrorists in our own country, we may someday lose those freedoms for good. \nDo you want our government to sit idly by as another 9-11 happens? It seems like some people do, whether they come out and say it or not.