ConNiPtioNs

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. -- O'Brien in 1984 George Orwell

Every government is run by liars and nothing they say should be believed. -- I. F. Stone

I am not looking forward to the 11th. Everyone will be trying to show how patriotic they are. Rather than wearing red, white and blue ribbons and adorning their vehicles with little American flags people should be speaking out against the Bush Administration's disregard for the Constitution.

You would think that we would have learned our lesson. In the 1950s we had the McCarthey hearings; during WWII the internment camps for Japanese Americans; Sacco and Vanzetti during the "Red Scare" of 1919-20; all the way back to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. It seems that everytime there is a "crisis" we put the Constitution aside "for the good of the country."

We have the Bill of Rights to protect us from our government. Bush and Ashcroft cannot decide to "suspend" certain rights because of a national crisis. It is at times of crisis when our rights are most vulnerable and most important.

Still reading? Are you sick of me ranting about this yet? OK, I'll stop for now. =)

Read Changing History by Eric Foner, The Nation 9/23/2002