Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
-Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanack
I’ll be blunt: no intro, no opening joke; our Bill of Rights is on the line and in the hands of a destructive Justice Department. With the introduction and twice reintroduction of the PATRIOT Act, the usage of warrantless wiretaps-even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act has courts was created to allow for clandestine warranted wiretaps-the suspension of Habeas Corpus, and the lack of countermanding between the DOJ and the Executive Branch, the Constitution and Bill of Rights are being attacked-blatantly and without precedent.
The first attack on our civil liberties was not 9/11, an act of destruction, but the aftermath; the formulation of the USA PATRIOT Act, an act asked for by President Bush to assert his ‘wartime powers’ was the act of terror-or at the very least the countermand to terror. But, while 'protecting' us from 'outside threats,' it has spawned another scandal; the firing of 8 DOJ prosecutors, which would be at least 26 and possibly all prosecutors, and hiring Bush cronies and right-wing loose constructionists would not be possible without the 98-2 vote on the USA PATRIOT Act(Bob Menendez[D-NJ] and Russ Feingold[D-WI] were the only Senators not to vote yea). Also, people who are considered imminent threats cannot get trials; they get 'military tribunals,' in which they are not entitled to a lawyer, not entitled to take the Fifth Amendment, nothing.
And then there was our second Civil Liberties Scandal, in which the President and the DOJ approved the illegal wiretaps of phones of millions, many of them American citizens who were not imminent threats. But, although there is a right to privacy in the Bill of Rights, as it is not fully shown to have a written right to privacy; thus, they went right ahead. Even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Surveillance Act is in place. Even though the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court has accepted all but four of all warrant applications-a rubber stamp!
Finally, there's the biggest breach of civil liberties of all-the suspension of the right to habeas corpus. Now, all people-citizens or not-cannot receive the reason they are being detained; they are not told the date of a trial; they do not know if there will be a trial to take place.
And then, people ask: who is allowing this to take place? The Bush Cronies in the Department of Justice, that's who. There is supposed to be an act of countermandance, an act of censure, when the Executive Branch steps too far in their duty to carry out law. But this DOJ doesn't do that; they don't uphold the law, they destroy it? Who allowed warrantless wiretaps: Alberto Gonzales and his DOJ didn't just allow it, he supported it and asked for it, too. Who allowed for the PATRIOT Act: John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales did.
And the Senate Judiciary Committee-And the Senate themselves? Where were they when our civil liberties were at risk?! Do they care about our freedom? It's exactly as the great Framer, Ben Franklin, said. But they gave up our safety in the process, putting our country in danger; not from Islamic extremists, but our own Executive Branch.
Monday, we go to the Election 2008 Spotlight on Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd. And remember, join us on June 7th for our preview show of Notepad.
"Good Night, and Good Luck."
-Edward R. Murrow, See It Now
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