People should always be weary of anything done in the name of patriotism (as is done in the name of religion). Books burn, citizens get incarcerated, censored, discriminated, and harassed in the name of patriotism (pigs also get up on two legs). This has happened before in every corner of the world, and it would be foolish to assume that it couldn't happen here. Patriotism like piety is benign when practiced with deference to others, but its potential is devastating when it's wielded like a sword in the face of others. It takes a lot of work to guarantee "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." The Associated Press seem to be telling us that our government is becoming more "of the state, by the state, for the state". I'm just on the lookout for bipedal pigs...
Overview of Changes to Legal Rights
By The Associated Press
September 5, 2002, 11:44 AM EDT
Some of the fundamental changes to Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act following the terror attacks:
* FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror investigation.
* FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public records requests.
* FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation.
* RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes.
* FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigation.
* RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans indefinitely without a trial.
* RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being able to confront witnesses against them.
Comments (1)
I thought the definition of "patriotism" was the love for one's country, at least that's the definition my dictionary gives me (Surprise! I actually have and use a dictionary). However, it seems like our government (yeah, let's just say "government") has distorted the traditional meaning of "patriotism" to turn our little democratic nation into a kind of dictatorship. Don't we have laws against these sort of infringements? I didn't know the president and/or Congress could change our rights without any warning. I know the president receives certain powers to overrun things during wars, but I thought we weren't technically in a war so the president doesn't actually have these powers right now (please correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just going by memory for government class in high school and from conversations with others). Shouldn't we say something against this? But if we do, we'll probably get tossed in jail...
Posted by lisa | September 10, 2002 7:30 AM
Posted on September 10, 2002 07:30