Civil Rights are Threatened in in the US

by Stacey Warde

Must the citizen ever for a moment, orin the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator?-- Henry David Thoreau in "Civil Disobedience"

Americans tend to be overly polite at times, risking abuse from opportunists and scoundrels, but never so much as when they've suffered a horrible tragedy. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, we've sheepishly consented to all the damage done to our civil rights by rogues who claim to be our elected representatives.

In particular, George W. Bush, whose presidency still remains, in the eyes of a great number of Americans, questionable, if not fraudulent, has all but declared himself the new emperor, the uncontested boss of a consortium of thugs bent on destroying what remains of our democratic process.And few Americans, Democrats in particular, seem willing to challenge the Bush administration's dismantling of constitutional guarantees of due process, free speech, and protections against unreasonable search and seizure, let alone question the legitimacy of the Bush presidency.

We have, indeed, as Henry David Thoreau once warned, resigned our conscience to the legislator. Or worse, in the interest of remaining polite in the face of national tragedy, we've let go of our better judgment to protest an administration run amok with our civil liberties.

The Bush administration has gone far beyond what any polite American can reasonably tolerate. It has essentially denatured, and will soon obliterate, the protections given in the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments.

It's time for the U.S. citizenry to organize against these intrusions upon our civil liberties. Many voices, inside and outside of the mainstream, are already angrily denouncing the Bush-whacking of constitutional freedoms. They are calling upon a populace narcotized by the absurd rhetoric of "security" and "war measures" to rise up to the responsibilities of these constitutional freedoms, and to hold the government accountable for its actions.

We must remember that, in the U.S. at least, the practice of our democratic ideals makes government accountable to the people, not the other way around. We are not yet slaves, or wards,of the state. But we may well find ourselves in such a role if we don't act quickly to preserve our civil rights.

The mainstream press has slowly, haltingly, perhaps begrudgingly, reported this crisis of democracy in bits and pieces. Because of this, says Nat Hentoff in the Village Voice, "most Americans do not know the extent to which Bush and [Attorney General John] Ashcroft have violated their oath to protect the Constitution." There is, nonetheless, a great deal of information available to citizens who want to be better informed.

Among the more reliable sources regarding governmental infringements on the rights of American citizens, of course, is the much-maligned American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU recently warned of the dire consequences of the USA PATRIOT ACT (anti-terrorism bill), passed with much fanfare in October, arguing that its "broadly defined new crime of domestic terrorism" could easily permit dissidents to be implicated as "terrorists" in any anti-governmental actions or protests. " We oppose this definition of terrorism," says the ACLU, "because it is unnecessary and could be used to prosecute dissidents." The ACLU has been actively challenging Congress and the Bush administration for recent laws passed and edicts given in response to Sept. 11. For more information visit their website: www.aclu.org.

Even some mainstream reporters' organizations have begun to sound the alarm over endangered press freedoms. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press recently criticized the new legislation, warning of even more stringent clampdowns on information, making newsgathering efforts more difficult for journalists. In a news media update, the committee quoted First Amendment expert Paul McMasters of the Freedom Forum: "The fact of the matter is, we have seen that the Justice Department can be pretty heavy-handed when they go after journalists' materials. We can assume journalists' work will be impacted by these new laws."

Updates on press freedoms can be viewed at the committee's website: www.rcfp.org.

The Freedom Forum offers updates on threats to First Amendment rights: www.freedomforum.org.

Recent history, of course, clearly shows that among the first casualties of oppressive governments are independent news outlets. Thankfully, many of the best independent news sources are found on the Internet where, so far, there has been little disruption from government censors. Among the more comprehensive resources for progressive readers is the Common Dreams website, www.commondreams.org, which provides a news center with listings of all the latest information. The site publishes countless articles from around the world.

A recent article by Boston Globe columnist Robert Kuttner also takes the Bush administration to task for meddling with our constitutional rights in the name of "security."

"Law-abiding Americans are supposed to be reassured [by these measures]," says Kuttner. "We, after all, are not terrorists. These extraordinary measures are directed at them, not at us. But these waivers of constitutional rights tend not to stay bottled up. The Constitution was written not to protect the guilty but to protect the innocent." Kuttner argues that whenever police agencies are granted additional powers, abuses of those powers tend to spill over, harming innocent people. "Americans have surmounted worse challenges than this one," Kuttner says of the terrorist attacks, "without giving up liberties."

Indeed, now is not the time, no matter how frightened we may have become for our security, to politely give up our constitutional rights as U.S. citizens. We need to call upon our legislators to perform their duties in holding the Bush administration in check, to remind Bush of his obligation to protect and defend our liberties, not fritter them away.

In fact, we need, as Starhawk so eloquently put it, to show our deep commitment to democracy by making our voices heard, whether in loud protest, letters written, or through visits to our representatives:

"If we insist that our voices be heard, that open dissent is not terrorism, but the deepest commitment to democracy, once the inevitable vitriol wears off, we'll find that we've gained legitimacy and shifted the ground of the dialogue. The longer we wait to claim that space, the more rigidified the patterns of oppression will grow. We need to act now, while the future is still fluid, and set the pattern ourselves."

Stacey Warde is the editor of theSLO HopeDance section.

Other online resources for information on civil liberties The following list includes websites that provide a wealth of information for readers seeking a progressive perspective, not likely to be found in the mainstream press, regarding recent impacts on our civil liberties. The Alternative Press Center's OnlineDirectory: www.altpress.org A great launching point for a comprehensive list of alternative press resources. Digital Librarian: www.digital-librarian.com Maintained by Margaret Vail Anderson, a librarian in Cortland, New York, the Digital Librarian. Another great starting point for any research project. Try subject heading under "government." Public Citizen: www.citizen.org A national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded by Ralph Nader in 1971. Fights for openness and democratic accountability in government, as well as for numerous other progressive issues. Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR): www.fair.org A national media watch group offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. The organization works to invigorate the First Amendment. In These Times: www.inthesetimes.com A national, biweekly magazine of news and opinion published in Chicago. Recently published article on democracy and the legitimacy of the Bush presidency: Democracy Begins At Home: The 2000 Election must not be forgotten, by John Nichols. Green Left Weekly: www.greenleft.org.au Australia's socialist newspaper. Includes another great listing of leftist and alternative publications. Included recent article by Ralph Nader on corporate profiteering in the face of tragedy. Stacey Warde