AUSTIN, Texas -- By George, we need honest, reasoned debate
around here and not fear-mongering, so anyone out there who suspects
Attorney General John Ashcroft of being a nincompoop is clearly aiding
terrorists and giving ammunition to America's enemies. Ashcroft says so, and
if that's not reasoned debate, what is?
Under the high standards of reason set forth by Ashcroft, we are
allowed to present CORRECT information (those who present incorrect
information, like some people in government, erode our national unity and
diminish our resolve) as to what the attorney general is up to. While
Operation Enduring Freedom continues in Afghanistan, enduring freedom is not
looking so good here at home -- and like the A.G., I would be the last to
encourage people of goodwill to remain silent in the face of evil.
Here is some CORRECT information about enduring freedom:
-- Ashcroft's urpily named PATRIOT Act permits government agents
to search a suspect's home without notification. In J. Edgar Hoover's day,
this was known as "a black-bag job." As Nat Hentoff reports in The
Progressive: "A warrant would be required, but very few judges would turn a
government investigator down in this time of fear. Ashcroft's 'secret
searches' provision can now extend to all criminal cases and can include
taking photographs, the contents of your hard drive and other property. This
is now a permanent part of the law, not subject to any 'sunset review' by
Congress."
Many of our tough-minded brethren, to whom it is perfectly clear
that less freedom equals more security, have dismissed complaints by saying,
after all, these measures only apply to non-citizens, and besides, the worst
parts of it will sunset in four years. Wrong. This means you, fellow
citizens -- if you happen to know someone whose brother-in-law rented a
garage apartment to a guy who knew someone who might be a terrorist.
Benjamin Franklin said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety." But I'm pretty
sure Franklin didn't mean to aid terrorists, so please don't report him to
he A.G.
-- The expansion of wiretapping authority to computers simply
puts privacy in cyberspace in jeopardy without any concomitant gain to law
enforcement. According to James X. Dempsey, deputy director of the Center
for Democracy and Technology, neither Congress nor the media have put all
this together to see the breadth of the dragnet.
The government can now delve into personal and private records
of individuals even if they cannot be directly connected to a terrorist or
foreign government. Bank records, e-mails, library records, even the track
of discount cards at grocery stories can be obtained on individuals without
establishing any connection to a terrorist before a judge. According to the
Los Angeles Times, Al Qaeda uses sophisticated encryption devices freely
available on the Internet that cannot be cracked. So the terrorists are safe
from cyber-snooping, but we're not.
-- Ashcroft and Co. essentially say, "Trust us, we won't misuse
these new laws." But in fact the FBI and the CIA have repeatedly violated
such trust to spy on everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Jean Seberg.
That's why the checks were there to begin with.
-- According to an analysis of PATRIOT by the Electronic Freedom
Foundation, the government made no showing that the previous powers of laws
enforcement and intelligence agencies to spy on U.S. citizens were
insufficient to allow them to investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism:
"Many provisions that, instead of (being) aimed at terrorism, are aimed at
nonviolent, domestic computer crime. In addition, although many of the
provisions appear aimed at terrorism, the government made no showing that
the reasons they failed to detect the planning of the recent attacks or any
other terrorist attacks were the civil liberties compromised by the bill.
The government may now spy on web-surfing of innocent Americans, including
terms entered into search engines, by merely telling a judge anywhere in the
U.S. that the spying could lead to information that is 'relevant' to an
ongoing criminal investigation."
The person spied on does not have to be the target of the
investigation nor is probable cause required.
-- The military tribunals idea is so bad the administration has
been backing up on it steadily, especially since Spain has already announced
it won't turn over its Al Qaeda suspects to a system so violative of
international standards. The Spaniards, who have been fighting Basque
terrorists for years, are not noticeably "soft on terrorism."
-- Lest you think our only attorney general does not care about
rights, I point out that when it comes to the 550 he has "detained" since
September, without evidence, without charges, without identification and
without legal counsel, he so fully respects the Second Amendment rights of
these non-citizens that he has reversed the Justice Department's previous
stand to forbid the FBI to check on their gun-purchase records in order to
protect their privacy. Also, Ashcroft fully believes in the rights of the
unborn. The born are on their own.
To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other
Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web
page at
www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2001 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
