MB Civic

In explaining why many people do not seem worried about global warming, Al Gore, in the 2006 documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” gives the example of a frog in a pot of water: if a frog is dropped into a pot of hot water, it will jump out; however, if the frog is put in lukewarm water to which heat is added slowly, it will sit there until it boils to death.

The same thing is occurring with the freedoms, civil liberties and privacy of Americans. You might call us frogs in the political pot. Because the erosion of rights, freedoms and civil liberties is occurring slowly, many are not reacting. Yet if everything had occurred in one fell swoop – suspension of habeas corpus; undermining of the Posse Comitatus Act, which now permits the president to unilaterally declare martial law; illegal wiretapping of American citizens; “watch lists” and other restrictions on travel; increased surveillance in the name of “safety and security”; the suspension of Fourth Amendment rights for certain welfare recipients; the equating of “dissent” with “aiding the terrorists” (i.e., treason), among other things – there would have been an outcry the likes of which has rarely been heard in American history. In fact, by using signing statements to centralize power in the executive branch, President Bush has come closer to an imperial presidency than Richard Nixon ever dreamed of. As Naomi Wolf, author of “The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot,” noted in a recent lecture, the president can now unilaterally decide that any person – including an American citizen – is an “enemy combatant,” leading to up to three years of incarceration with little or no access to family or lawyers.

This issue is as critical as any issue being debated by the presidential candidates. Yet not a single candidate from either party is addressing it, including sitting senators. Indeed, the Senate is about to vote on a particularly dangerous and Orwellian bill: the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.” According to the bill, “violent radicalization” is “the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious or social change.” And “homegrown terrorism” means “the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States…to intimidate or coerce the United States government…in furtherance of political or social objectives.”

The above language is in direct conflict with the Declaration of Independence: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…[W]hen a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”

What the bill would do is make certain speech and action not simply criminal, but treasonous, nullifying the right of “the people” to “alter or abolish” a “destructive” government and “institute new government.” No matter how unlikely such a situation might be, the idea of making it treasonous even to suggest it all but eviscerates the intentions of the founding fathers.

Since 9/11, many people have reacted to the erosion of freedoms and civil liberties, and increased surveillance and security measures, by saying: “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about.” It might surprise them to know that those exact words were spoken by millions of good, law-abiding German citizens during the National Socialists’ rise to power. Did the Jews do something “wrong?” The trade unionists? The elderly? The mentally handicapped? Because all of these groups – and many others – were “purged” by the Nazis once they achieved power.

To those who think they have nothing to worry about as the Constitution is shredded, their rights are eroded, and their very words become actionable if not treasonous, consider the words of Martin Niemoeller, a Lutheran pastor who opposed the Nazi takeover of the Protestant churches: “First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.”

The bill before the Senate must not be allowed to become law. If it does, an awful lot of frogs are going to boil to death.

Rev. Ian Alterman
Editor
MB-Civic