theory
04-03-2003, 08:27 PM
Posted on Tue, Apr. 01, 2003
PIONEER PRESS
PATRIOT ACT II: New anti-terrorism bill threatens civil liberities
As the Justice Department considers how to ram through Congress even more expansive legislation to curtail citizen liberties in the name of security, remember that the next knock on the door might be to haul you off into some dark night where the U.S. Constitution has been marginalized by the very government sworn to protect it against enemies.
Since February, when a draft of the so-called Patriot Act II was leaked, it has been clear but underreported that Attorney General John Ashcroft is not satisfied with the power passed quickly after the Sept. 11 attacks by a frightened Congress on behalf of a frightened people willing to forgo rights in a false tradeoff for "security." The Bush administration apparently wants to, among other horrors, have the power to revoke citizenship — even of native-born Americans — and detain citizens indefinitely.
The draft of this sequel to the USA Patriot Act of 2001 would further erode the rights to privacy, due process and religious liberty, and continue hiding the government's "anti-terror" actions from review by the courts of Congress. By throwing the label "terrorist'' around freely, under the terms of this proposed law, the government could round up protests of almost any sort against its policies, then wiretap the organization behind the protests, seize its property and take citizenship from supporters of the group.
What the administration forgets is that in this democracy the law has a stated bias to protect citizen rights, not to "protect" government from citizens about whom there is no probable cause to suspect them of crimes. Adding to the threat from expansive government powers in this administration is its own furtiveness. A government that demands complete transparency in the dealings of its people while steadfastly refusing to be accountable is a government to be feared, not trusted.
Instead of countless legislative skirmishes around the country to force recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, perhaps time would be well spent in schools by teaching and learning about constitutional rights.
This is an administration that, de facto, has ignored the constitutional checks and balances that force accountability. Trusting it with more authority is not a recipe for enhanced security; it is a recipe for eroding the very democracy the administration purports to be preserving.
It appears that the administration calculation to get more intrusive legislation is aimed at leveraging public fears intensified by the Iraq war — or simply to sneak Patriot Act II through while attention is focused on the war overseas and the host of domestic economic and social problems that have people stewing.
Pay attention. The citizenship at risk may be your own.
PIONEER PRESS
PATRIOT ACT II: New anti-terrorism bill threatens civil liberities
As the Justice Department considers how to ram through Congress even more expansive legislation to curtail citizen liberties in the name of security, remember that the next knock on the door might be to haul you off into some dark night where the U.S. Constitution has been marginalized by the very government sworn to protect it against enemies.
Since February, when a draft of the so-called Patriot Act II was leaked, it has been clear but underreported that Attorney General John Ashcroft is not satisfied with the power passed quickly after the Sept. 11 attacks by a frightened Congress on behalf of a frightened people willing to forgo rights in a false tradeoff for "security." The Bush administration apparently wants to, among other horrors, have the power to revoke citizenship — even of native-born Americans — and detain citizens indefinitely.
The draft of this sequel to the USA Patriot Act of 2001 would further erode the rights to privacy, due process and religious liberty, and continue hiding the government's "anti-terror" actions from review by the courts of Congress. By throwing the label "terrorist'' around freely, under the terms of this proposed law, the government could round up protests of almost any sort against its policies, then wiretap the organization behind the protests, seize its property and take citizenship from supporters of the group.
What the administration forgets is that in this democracy the law has a stated bias to protect citizen rights, not to "protect" government from citizens about whom there is no probable cause to suspect them of crimes. Adding to the threat from expansive government powers in this administration is its own furtiveness. A government that demands complete transparency in the dealings of its people while steadfastly refusing to be accountable is a government to be feared, not trusted.
Instead of countless legislative skirmishes around the country to force recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools, perhaps time would be well spent in schools by teaching and learning about constitutional rights.
This is an administration that, de facto, has ignored the constitutional checks and balances that force accountability. Trusting it with more authority is not a recipe for enhanced security; it is a recipe for eroding the very democracy the administration purports to be preserving.
It appears that the administration calculation to get more intrusive legislation is aimed at leveraging public fears intensified by the Iraq war — or simply to sneak Patriot Act II through while attention is focused on the war overseas and the host of domestic economic and social problems that have people stewing.
Pay attention. The citizenship at risk may be your own.