| -Caveat Lector-
http://www.stratiawire.com/ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2002 ASHCROFT DOES NOT EQUAL FREEDOM SEPTEMBER 3. There is wisdom in the law. One piece of that wisdom? You don’t start walking down a path, even timidly, that could lead to an abridgement of the Bill of Rights, because each step can take you toward a blanket denial of freedom. What starts out as a seemingly rational course of action can, later on, show its ugly fascist face in full bloom. Take Attorney General Ashcroft’s decision to institute prison camps for “enemy combatants.” Sounds reasonable. If people are plotting against America in a time of war, they should be detained. And if these people are American citizens, so what? They are traitors. They should be held by the authorities. Ashcroft has declared that such American prisoners can be jailed without specific charges being leveled against them, without the right to an attorney, without the right to communicate to anyone, INDEFINITELY. Of course, he, Ashcroft, or Bush, can decide who is an “enemy combatant.” Well, we say, Ashcroft won’t just order the arrest of Joe Smith who lives in Ohio, has a family, and runs a dry cleaning shop. Ashcroft will only order the arrest of a man with a funny-sounding name who has converted to Islam. Yes, well, even if that is true, Ashcroft has taken the first steps down the path to perdition. And three years or five years from now, there may be a Joe Smith in Ohio who DOES find himself behind bars without a lawyer, because he showed up at an anti-war rally. It’s the gradual erosion of the Bill of Rights. Step by step. Which is why there are laws against the detention of an American citizen, unless charges are filed, unless that citizen has the right to an attorney and a trial. The point is NOT whether you happen to think Ashcroft looks like a reasonable man. “Reasonable looking” is not part of the law. If tomorrow a reasonable looking scientist appears on a national news program, and if he says that a new genetic marker has been found that can predict future criminal behavior, then you might think, “Let’s test everybody and isolate all possible criminals.” Children often think this way. They see what seems to be a solution, and they fall in love with it. They think Utopia is just over the horizon. But we are not children. We have the wisdom of experience. We know what some people are capable of, even if they pretty much comb their hair the way we do, even if they wear the same suits other people wear, even if they smile the way others do, even if they “look like loyal Americans.” Children confuse protection with freedom. If states pass laws that say everyone must take vaccines as prevention against biowar plagues, children might think this is a good idea. Children might even snitch on their parents if their parents refuse to allow all the vaccines designed for kiddies. Children also tend to like uniforms. They might want to don black uniforms with insignias and march down the street in support of “the national effort against terrorism.” But we are not children. We are supposed to be able to see the more subtle shades of distinction. At the very least, we are supposed to call for the resignation of a public official who tries to scrap all the safeguards against a fascist court system. “But he looks all right.” I don’t care if he looks like Mickey Mouse in a Disney parade <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om |
