Ari's Confusion of the Day: The War on Terror

I'm confused. President Bush thinks the New York Times keeping the public informed is "making it harder to win this war on terror" and Dick Cheney says the Times has "made the job of defending against further terrorist attacks more difficult."

So what exactly does the phrase "war on terror" really mean? Does it mean we can't have freedom of speech or freedom of the press anymore? Does it mean that our phone calls have to be monitored? Does it mean that the government has to look at our bank accounts or our lives will be in danger?

How long before the definition of "war on terror" means that we can't demonstrate -- or even congregate? What other things are we not going to be able to do in the future? Where will the definition of the "war on terror" ultimately take us?

Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, please let us know the precise definition so we can vote on it in November. Then again, maybe in the "war on terror" you can't actually vote. Or you can vote but it doesn't count. We've already seen how that works in Florida and Ohio.