Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 00:57:06 -0500
To: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt@coil.com>
Subject: Liberty Is Dying, Liberal by Liberal By ROBERT SCHEER
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

< http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-000092676nov20.story >


COMMENTARY

Liberty Is Dying, Liberal by Liberal
By ROBERT SCHEER
Robert Scheer writes a syndicated column

November 20 2001

Sadly, the old slander that a liberal is someone who has never been 
mugged is turning out to be true. The Sept. 11 attacks were so close 
to the center of the intelligentsia's power and consciousness that 
they have propelled many civil libertarians to abandon their 
long-held principles.

Congress passes, without due consideration, a draconian 
anti-terrorist bill that Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft demands, and only 
one senator--Russell Feingold (D-Wis.)--dares to rise in opposition. 
The president doesn't even bother to consult Congress as he detains 
more than 1,000 prisoners without charges, approves wiretaps on 
lawyer-client conversations and issues an executive order 
implementing military trials for those accused of terrorism.

Secret military tribunals are defended by Harvard's Laurence Tribe, a 
preeminent liberal law professor, as necessary to "protecting our 
lives from terrorism." His colleague Alan Dershowitz assures us that 
the Constitution does not prohibit "torture" and argues that it be 
kept within the legal system: "If we are to have torture, it should 
be authorized by the law. Judges should have to issue a 'torture 
warrant' in each case." With the exception of a few stalwarts, such 
as the ACLU, we have witnessed the sorry spectacle of most civil 
libertarians remaining silent or actively supporting the most 
sweeping and ill-considered assault on civil liberties since the 
roundup of Japanese Americans during World War II.

[...]


Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues
Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA
on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week)
Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722  ICQ: 106212065   Archived at 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/