Thursday, June 13, 2002
Pure Ends for the U.S.
There is a lot of outrage coming from the libertarian left and right on the recent arrest of Jose Padilla, or whatever his real name is. I can see the fear of further government incursion into the private lives of its citizens, and I respect the tradition of English common law, which maintains that the government is bound by the law and not above it, but I just can’t take this issue seriously at this time.
I am a big fan of libertarian movements (look at some of the stuff in my wallet,) but I see the need for great restrictions on civil liberties during this intense period of war and terrorism. I will not deny that there is a possibility of Bush and Ashcroft establishing tight rules during the administration that interfere with our daily lives and violate the constitutional rights of some citizens, but I think the chances of a fanatic sticking a bomb or biological weapon in a parked truck in downtown New York are much more likely than Bush becoming the great tyrant that the Founding Fathers feared. I don’t know how much these new measures used by the Justice Dept. will be, but as this bust yesterday proves, it gets us somewhere on the road to security (notice how racial profiling of an Arab man pretending to be Hispanic potentially saved many American lives.)
Even if our rights are violated in the short run, in the long run I’m confident that they would be restored. Civil liberties would be a great issue for a Democratic challenger to run on in ’04 or ’08.
Many however would say that if we lose our freedoms, then “the terrorists have won.” I respond with, “if you think people are willing to sacrifice the Constitution now, think about how many will want to scrap the whole thing if one of those missing Russian nukes ends up in Rockefeller Plaza.” I think, in the end, it is better to give up some of our liberties for the present war in order to save the whole system later. I may sound paranoid about an apocalyptic attack on the country (I think a lot of these libertarians are paranoid about Bush’s attempt to become king.), but I don’t want to take a chance on the future of liberal democracy in the world on the personal space of a militant Moslem.
12:43 AM
Finally Back
I got my new high-speed internet connection, so I can get back to business. That Kenyon server spoiled me. :)
12:02 AM
|
|
