November 12, 2003 6:09 AM

And the sad thing is...he's right

Gore criticizes Bush on civil liberties: Ex-VP says nation moving toward "big brother" government

They have taken us much farther down the road toward an intrusive, `big brother'-style government -- toward the dangers prophesied by George Orwell in his book 1984 -- than anyone ever thought would be possible in the United States of America....In my opinion, it makes no more sense to launch an assault on our civil liberties as the best way to get at terrorists than it did to launch an invasion of Iraq as the best way to get at Osama bin Laden.

- Al Gore

I know that many Conservatives will ignore this because of the source of these comments, but the reality here is that Gore is dead on. Americans HAVE willingly allowed the Bush Administration to chip away at their civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorism. This "we must kill the patient in order to save it" mentality is just plain wrong, but Americans have swallowed the "we know best" party line that has been Chairman Ashcroft's mantra.

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Al Gore accused President Bush on Sunday of failing to make the country safer after the Sept. 11 attacks and using the war against terrorism as a pretext to consolidate power....

Gore, who lost the disputed 2000 presidential election to Bush, said terrorism-fighting tools granted after Sept. 11 amount to a partisan power grab that have led to the erosion of the civil liberties of all Americans.

He brought the crowd to its feet when he called for a repeal of the Patriot Act, which expanded government's surveillance and detention power, allowing authorities to monitor books people read and conduct secret searches.

Gore chided the administration for what he said was its "implicit assumption" that Americans must give up traditional freedoms in order to be safe from terrorists.

The USA PATRIOT ACT is the perfect example of how our liberties are being chipped away brick by brick, and yet we blithely allow Chairman Ashcroft to do this. Why? Because we're not paying attention. If Ashcroft had cajoled Congress into outlawing the Bill of Rights (indulge me here, willya?), Americans would be marching to the barricades. However, because Ashcroft is slowly chipping away at the Bill of Rights, he is able to fly under the radar.

Civil liberties, once they disappear, are much tougher to restore. It's especially difficult when no one seems to be paying attention. Remember, there is nothing un-American about questioning authority. Don't say you weren't warned....

blog comments powered by Disqus

Technorati

Technorati search

» Blogs that link here

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on November 12, 2003 6:09 AM.

Mine is bigger.... was the previous entry in this blog.

Sometimes, you have to remember what is truly important- and it's not politics is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Contact Me

Powered by Movable Type 5.12