simultaneously

Strange, somehow, to see the rise of conservative, clamp-down militarism in government and simultaneously witness an on-going swell of progressive and permissive activity.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Soldiers fanned out to guard possible terror targets across Belgium Saturday, including some buildings within the Jewish quarter of the port city of Antwerp. It was the first time in 30 years that authorities used troops to reinforce police in Belgium's cities, and came a day after anti-terror raids netted dozens of suspects across Western Europe. [emphasis added]

And, from the BBC:

Europe is on high alert following anti-terror raids and arrests of suspected Islamist militants.
More than 20 people have been arrested in Belgium, France and Germany and Belgium has joined France in deploying troops alongside police.

Meanwhile, with a relative speed that is hard to compass, the Supreme Court will take up gay (homosexual) unions banned in a minority 14 states:

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether states can ban gay marriage, delving into a contentious social issue in what will be one of the most anticipated rulings of the year.
The court, in a brief order, said it would hear cases concerning marriage restrictions in Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. The ruling, due by the end of June, will determine whether 14 remaining state bans will be struck down.

When I was a kid, the idea of homosexual unions, state-sanctioned or otherwise, was off the prurient American charts. It feels as if now, such unions are one step away from being what they always deserved to be -- yesterday's news. It's not that righteous, religious revulsion won't exist, but the balance of the scales seems almost reversed... a liberal step...

In a distinctly illiberal time riven by economic hardship.

Perhaps you have to be well-heeled -- or at least well-sheltered -- to entertain liberal philosophies that will eventually spill someone else's blood ... just like dictatorship.

I think I may watch "V for Vendetta" again today ... just a small fantasy suggesting that dictatorship is not the only option. It's a wet dream, but who doesn't like a good wet dream?