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If we give up our liberty, we may never get it back Peter Watson / The Jackson Sun | May 21 2006 There's a lot going on in the news
these days. There's so much going on, in fact, that I couldn't settle
on just one topic for this morning's column. So instead, I decided to
comment on the two biggest stories of recent weeks. This is the same administration, after all, that
has admitted to wiretapping Americans' phones without the benefit of
a warrant. Granted, the administration alledgedly only tapped the phones
of Americans with suspected terrorist ties, but it set a dangerous precedent.
And really, how can we be sure? What really bothers me about this whole thing is that many Americans honestly see nothing wrong with what the government is doing. Granted, both Verizon and BellSouth have now come out and denied that they ever gave customers' phone records to the NSA. But it is important to note that both companies are now facing a possible class-action suit from outraged customers. And it is important to note the one party in this whole mess that has not denied the program's existence: the White House. Still, many Americans say they have nothing to hide from the government. They say they are willing to give up some of their freedom in order to be protected. That's scary. Don't they realize that if this program exists, it is clearly unconstitutional? Don't they realize that if we say nothing and allow this to go on, we are giving tacit approval for the government to infringe further upon our civil liberties? There's a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin that applies in this situation: "Those who are willing to sacrifice their basic liberties to assure their security deserve neither." - Last week, in a nationally televised primetime address, President Bush said he wants to use National Guard troops to secure our borders. He was quick to assure Americans that the number of troops used would be small - about 6,000 - and that the assignment would only be temporary. Still, I can't think of a worse idea for dealing with the immigration problem. In the first place, this is just a temporary fix to a much larger problem. And with so many National Guard troops already committed to fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, just where are these extra troops going to come from? What about the troops that might be needed to help with natural disasters like forest fires in California or hurricanes in Louisiana, or along the Mississippi Gulf Coast? It seems to me that we are overtaxing a volunteer force that already is stretched thin. And why? To placate the hard-right fringe of the Republican Party instead of addressing the root of the issue: unscrupulous employers who knowingly hire and exploit illegal immigrants. Maybe I'm stretching a little here. But I no longer think it's outrageous to say that our country is beginning to resemble a police state. Think about it. We have our government first tapping the phones of people with suspected terrorist ties, then building a call database on every American. We have prisoners at Guantanamo Bay being held without charges and without hope of a trial. And now we want to militarize our border? It's time Americans stood up and protested the actions of this administration. If we don't, if we choose instead to turn a blind eye to what's going on, our freedoms will continue to disappear. And once they are gone, it will be almost impossible to get them back. ---------------------------------------------------
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