Weekly Analysis – 2/9/03

Lost Freedoms

By Kirt R. Poovey

The Homeland Security Act recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush is so far reaching that it is almost unfathomable that this is a bill accepted by conservatives.  The totalitarian state is almost completely upon us.  One or two more “crises” and the people will welcome it in with open arms. 

Just how bad is it? 

President George W. Bush has claimed the power to arbitrarily arrest and imprison U.S. citizens by designating them as “enemy combatants”.  The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld that claim if they are deemed a threat to national security.  Worse is the claim by the administration that they have the right to hold them without trial and without the right to an attorney.

The appeals court agreed in the case of Yaser Hamdi, which they reviewed, because he was “captured in a zone of active combat in a foreign theater of conflict”.  They refused to rule on the case of Jose Padilla who was apprehended in the United States and designated as an enemy combatant.  He has been detained, refused the advice of counsel, and not charged.

The new HSA also allows searches of your home without your knowledge.  No Search Warrant has to be given to you.  Your internet traffic and email may be monitored even though you are not suspected of having committed any crime. They can even monitor the books that you check out at your local library and the library is prohibited from telling you that the government is snooping on you.

Think you’re safe in your church from the government peeping Tom’s?  With the HSA the government may monitor your church and you for activity that THEY determine may be subversive or against the will of the government.  Good thing this act wasn’t law in 1776 because much of our citizen army came from pastors and their congregations.  They were definitely opposed to the then ruling government.

All of the basic rights of individuals that our founding fathers held dear and sacred have been shredded with the HSA – Right to a fair trial – not if the government says no; Right to confront one’s accuser – not if the government determines that doing so might compromise national security;  Right to legal counsel – not if you’re determined to be an “enemy combatant”;  Right to be recognized as innocent until proven guilty – not if you’re an “enemy combatant”; Right to a writ of habeas corpus – not if you’re an “enemy combatant”; Right to be safe in your home – not if the government wants to check and see if you’re a subversive; Right to be free of  unreasonable searches and seizures – not if the government wants to see if they can find something that would show you are a subversive; and the list goes on.

Don’t feel safe taking a vaccine for some supposed biological outbreak that could be foisted upon us by a terrorist group?  Too bad – with HSA the government becomes the sole decision maker as to whether you will or will not take that vaccine.

However, if you’re the government, then your privacy is greater than before.  For instance, VP Cheney’s controversial meetings with energy companies in 2001 could be kept secret now if they were deemed to be “national-security related”.  You see, it all boils down to “this is for national security”.  Give up your freedoms for security.  That is the “new” but very old panacea of the day.  Look for more of the same lies to come out in the future.  In the mean time, smile – you’re on gov’t camera.