Surrender Freedom for Security

AMERICANS SURRENDERING LIBERTIES: SHADES OF GERMAN HISTORY

The U.S.A. Patriot Act sailed through Congress with little opposition on the part of the American people. And the vast majority of Americans don't seem to mind.
They seem to have accepted the notion that they must rely on the federal government to take care of them.To most, security seems much more valuable than freedom!
We must all remember that this is exactly the way Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party took control in Germany. They did not seize power by force; the German people happily gave them power on the promise of national security.
Since 9/11, even those Americans who in the past have championed freedom and independence now demonstrate readiness to gladly yield their liberties. It does not seem to matter one iota that they are losing their right of privacy and their right to be secure in their own homes.
When told that the Patriot Act is practically a carbon copy of Hitler's Enabling Act, most either yawn with indifference or retort with disbelief. They seem to be oblivious to reality.
For some, their personal support for President Bush will not allow them to look objectively at the details of his Patriot Act (or virtually anything else he does). They truly don't want to believe that Bush could ever promote something untoward. Yet, was this not the same reasoning used by the German people in the 1930's? They loved and trusted Hitler so much, they could not bring themselves to believe that anything he did could be wrong.
Americans need to reread the principles expressed by their Founding Fathers. Thomas Jefferson rightly said, "In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
Some express statements such as, "Well, if you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to fear." This loses its legitimacy when "the powers that be" can alter what "wrong" is at will.
Americans are presumed to be guilty of wrongdoing and mechanisms are in place to begin the process of proving it; the discovery portion of this process may now be done under cover of darkness and secrecy. Gone is the presumption of innocence. Under the Patriot Act, gone is the right to an attorney,the right to habeas corpus,the right to a speedy trial,the right to be secure in your papers and effects. The Patriot Act is turning America into a Nazi-style police state.
Americans need to wake up to the reality that there already exists a gargantuan effort to put a military-style federal apparatus in place. In recent years, federal law enforcement has expanded to the point where there is now an equivalent of five military divisions armed and invested with the power to make arrests. And this does not include the fact that certain of our military and C.I.A. personnel are also being trained and instructed in domestic law enforcement. Can people not see the writing on the wall?
The Patriot Act so loosely defines "terrorism" that virtually anyone or anything could be considered "an act of terrorism" including speech! Plus, Bush lovers need to remember that Dubya will not be president forever. They need to think about the likes of Hillary Clinton or Alberto Gonzales interpreting and enforcing the Patriot Act!
The bottom line is, in the name of safety and security, the American people, as did the people of Germany in the 1930's, are willingly surrendering their liberties. One more 9/11-style attack will probably mean the end of whatever freedom is left. And sadly, the vast majority of the American people will probably be ok with that, as well.
In the end, however, the loss of freedom will not bring America peace and safety. Instead, destruction and tyranny will result. A simple look at German history proves that.
Of course, America's founders rejected tyrannical government. However, it appears that many of today's Americans share more in common with German history than with their own.