Mahatma Gandhi supposedly once said that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. While I have the utmost respect for Gandhi's courage and pacifistic way of life, he is wrong. Frequently our treatment of our animals is much more caring and generous than is our treatment of our fellow man. Hate breeds a contempt for one's own species that is worse than any hatred manifested against mere animals.

In fact, it is our treatment of our enemies that demonstrates the depths of our moral understanding and compassion, and frequently we fail. From the Japanese internment camps of World War II, our debasement of the Vietnamese in the 60's and 70's, and our current paranoia about anyone who looks like they could be from the Middle East. We hate our enemy, thinking of them as sub-human and sometimes sub-animal.

So here we are again at war, telling anyone who will listen that our way is the best way, that we are here to liberate the oppressed and convince everyone how wonderful we are, yet we torture our enemy in the name of security, we imprison suspects without trial in the name of justice, we discriminate in the name of liberty. When Barak Obama became president, he did so held up by the popular cry of "Change" He was going to right the wrongs of the previous administrations, stop government intrusiveness, close Guantanamo Bay, stop the violence, bring our soldiers home, and we bought it.

We're still waiting. We're still fighting in Iraq, GITMO is still open, the government still spies on it's citizens, and the rumors of torture persist.

What does it say about our cherished values as a nation that when things get dark we throw those values away. To justify it we say that this is important for National Interests? We're afraid that if we hand out the same rights to our enemy that we enjoy, they will escape justice, and we don't realize that we have just placed expedience above freedom, equality and fairness, supposedly the highest ideals of this country, the very values our founders fought for, the very values our soldiers continue to die for every single day. We have just said that those values are meaningless because we have to be safe.

Could we be safer if we rounded up everyone we suspected of being an enemy and locked them away without accusation or trial? Possibly. Could we make air travel safer if we stripped searched everyone who looks like they could be from Iran or Afghanistan? Maybe. Could we be safer if we tapped everyone's phone, email, read their mail and put a camera on every street corner? Almost certainly, but the reason we shouldn't do any of those things is blindingly obvious; because if we did we wouldn't be the great nation we tell everyone we are. It would make every soldier who died, every patriotic martyr, every leader and citizen who has fought to make this country great into a meaningless sacrifice. Our laws of due process, our rights and our freedoms, the respect we show each other as Americans have to be given to everyone, friend and bitter enemy alike or they aren't fit for anyone, even our own citizens. Do this and we show the terrorists we are better than they are, we show the world that we aren't afraid and that we have the strength of our convictions. If we don't do it, we tell the terrorists we are dishonest, and we tell the world that we talk a good game, but when it comes right down to it, our valued ideals are just a convenience we can easily do without when it suits us.

For a long time, I didn't understand Gandhi. I didn't understand the pacifist thinking, but I get it now. You can sacrifice everything, but not your ideals. If those go, then you've made everything that was built on them worthless. I'm not a pacifist. I can't be like Gandhi. I can't see a world at peace without weapons. If we somehow find our way there, then the next bozo who decides to bring back weapons and armies will take over the world and there will be no one to stop him. So I believe in a strong defense. I believe that killing someone in self-defense is justified, if tragic. But I see where he was coming from, and I am prepared to live in a more dangerous world, to accept greater risks for myself, to understand that a terrorist may find a loophole in our laws and go free because the system isn't perfect, to understand that there is a greater chance of a terrorist plot not being discovered if our government can't listen in on my phone calls. I am willing to risk that because there is something more valuable than my life; my ideals. The same ideals that this country has pounded into my brain since I was born. Land of the free, home of the brave, justice for all, equal opportunity, fairness and honor and respect. The same ideals every politician in the country talks about when there's a camera on them. The same ideals every protester shouts about while holding a sign. I do believe that this is the best country on Earth, but I also believe that we are sinking. We've forgotten the REASONS our ideals are the best and we're starting to question exactly how free is free, how equal should everyone be and whether we really have to be brave or should we just go along with what's easier to do.

We, as a people need to choose. Do we continue to tell people we are a great nation, or do we show them we are? Being a citizen of the United States is not a right. It is a responsibility, and with that responsibility comes risk, and we should be willing to accept that risk gladly as the price we must pay for the rights we enjoy.