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Spying and Lying in 21st Century America

Since the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the historical protections of speech, assembly, protest, and privacy enjoyed by U.S. citizens and legal residents (“U.S. persons”), have also come under attack as a stampeded Congress, goaded by a panicked and paranoid administration, abdicated its constitutional role—rather, its constitutional duty—to prevent the undue concentration of power in the Chief Executive. The immediate result was the “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorists Act of 2001”—better known by its acronym, USA PATRIOT Act.

This law, as has become more and more clear over the last three months, was but the initial move by the Bush administration in what has become an extended and coordinated attack on the civil liberties of U.S. persons in the name of national security and—ironically—in the name of bringing democracy and civil liberties to Iraq.

The extent of this frontal assault suggests the depth of the ideological aversion of many Bush advisers and confidants to the underlying principles on which the entire American democratic experiment rests. These include protecting the rights of all citizens, especially those of various minorities, against an overbearing majority; providing basic services and infrastructure on an equitable basis; and being responsive to the concerns and safety of the people. In short, it seems that key administration figures and confidants have difficulty with the proposition that “government of the people and for the people” refers to all the people.

Foreign Policy In Focus[FPIF]

posted by Annamarie at 8:54 PM