Our blogs about
America's Wars
War on Iraq
War on Drugs
War on Afghanistan
War on Columbia
War on Philippines
War on Venezuela

MORE
Matrix Masters
Blogs
World Events
Katrina's Aftermath
US News
Bush Crime Family News
Science & Health
Earth News
Free Speech
News from Africa
News from Palestine
Bill of Rights Under Attack

Support Bloggers' Rights!

Lorenzo's
Random Musings
. . . about Chaos,
Reason, and Hope

 

CIVIL WAR II: Grassroots Uprising Fights to Protect Rights and Freedoms
(Betsy Barnum, Common Dreams, July 18, 2003)
In October 2001, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act setting aside many of our individual freedoms for the sake of fighting terrorism. . . . Do we understand the threat USA PATRIOT poses to our civil liberties? Or are we willing to give up our rights and freedoms in return for a promise of safety, and shrug off the danger to democracy from an unaccountable government? . . . By last week, 132 cities and counties and three states had passed resolutions stating their intention not to cooperate with some provisions of USA PATRIOT. Elected office-holders in these communities have publicly declared that they will not abide by federal laws and orders that would compel them to accord the people in their jurisdiction less than full rights and protections guaranteed to all persons in the US Constitution. . . . Who are these people who have convinced so many local lawmaking bodies to openly oppose federal law? . . . If they're anything like the Bill of Rights Defense Committees in Minneapolis and St. Paul, they are folks from all walks of life, all income levels and all points on the political spectrum. . . . Teachers. Consultants. Environmentalists. People who voted for George Bush. People who voted for Ralph Nader. Engineers. Unemployed people. Civil rights attorneys. Minimum-wage workers. Retired persons. Students. Supporters of the war on Iraq. People of faith. And a large minority from the arts community, people to whom freedom of expression is as dear as life itself. . . . And many, if not most, are involved for the first time in civil society political activism. . . . The significance of resistance to USA PATRIOT and similar acts is not who's 'right' and 'wrong' about how much they erode civil liberties, or whether that erosion is justifiable. . . . The real story is that people in communities that now total more 16 million in population have persuaded their city councils to pass, often unanimously or near-unanimously, resolutions in direct defiance of federal legislation. And if the other cities and states with active citizen groups urging similar resolutions also pass them, the total number of people living in civil rights-protective communities could rise to more than 45 million. . . . This is the real story -- that the Bush administration's efforts to launch the most direct assault on individual rights and protections since the Alien and Sedition Acts in the early days of our nation, have sparked in response the most open and defiant assertion of local democracy ever seen. . . . I know of nothing more hopeful than this for the future of democracy and freedom.

posted by LoZo 11:30 AM