Civil Liberties under attack? (was: Re: [thechat] US vs USSR etc.)

[Bruce Heerssen]

Erika Meyer wrote:
<snip>

> Although I have to realize...
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46953,00.html
> 
> Erika

 From the article:

"We will call upon the Congress of the United States to enact these 
important anti-terrorism measures this week," Attorney General John 
Ashcroft said Monday. "We need these tools to fight the terrorism threat 
which exists in the United States, and we must meet that growing threat."

He (Ashcroft) was refering to phone tapping. But for all I know, he 
could be asking for much more, as if that isn't enough. We should all be 
more than a little scared. What this means is that any phone you use 
could be wire-tapped. The only justification that the gov't would need 
is that they SUSPECT that a terrorist MAY use it at some time during 
their investigation. And this applies to any phone, the pay phone on the 
corner, your hotel phone, or your personal cell phone.

But the really scary thing is that the gov't may not be satified with 
just increased phone-tapping privileges. The next liberty to go could be 
our right against unreasonable search and seizure. And be on the lookout 
for talk of seditious material. That would be an attack on our 
first-ammendment rights. Anyone that remembers the McCarthy era should 
know that this is not far-fetched, and that the US may be reaching a 
similar level fervor.

Now, this may sound a little alarmist, but I honestly do not think so. 
Liberty is only maintained at the cost of constant vigilance. There are 
many groups in the U.S. that do not have the same respect for it that I 
do. And some of them are (IMO) dangerously political. Can you say "Moral 
Majority"?

In the immortal words of Benjamin Franklin:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary 
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- _Historical Review of Pennsylvania_, 1759.

This is as true today as it was then. I am still considering purchasing 
a firearm (a decision I do not take lightly), but not to protect myself 
against faceless terrorists. If our civil liberties start to give way, I 
will consider it my patriotic duty to protect them. I'm not sure what I 
could use the firearm for, but if the U.S. starts stripping liberties, I 
will fight to keep them. I would prefer to keep the fight within the 
political arena, but I /will/ fight for them even to my death - if 
necessary.

That, my friends, is the true cost of libery.

-Bruce
(and with that, I yield the pulpit)