Our government promises to bring the perpetrators of the attacks against America to justice. I am all for that. My only question is, "What will it cost?" Let's look at the proposals already being touted:
*Without the approbation of Congress or the Constitution, President Bush has created a new federal bureaucracy: The Office of Homeland Security. We have not yet been told how much this new bureaucracy will cost the American taxpayers or just how large it will be, but we know it is going to be huge.
According to press reports, this new cabinet-level agency is "a whole new bureaucracy" with widespread power. The agency is charged with the responsibility of "meshing domestic FBI and foreign CIA intelligence, working with the U.S. military, emergency officials and state and local governments." That is more than huge; it is gigantic. Such power will make this new agency the most powerful agency in the country; and, again, it exists without Congressional approval or constitutional authority.
*The Bush administration is seeking to broaden police powers. His new terrorism bill even allows "prosecutors to use information collected by foreign governments in ways that are unconstitutional in the United States." Under this bill, the United States government could use foreign officials (even troops?) to violate the constitutional liberties of American citizens.
*President Bush is said to be considering the implementation of a national ID card for every American citizen. According to a top White House source, "We must look at all options."
*The FAA has made the decision to take away the right of airline pilots, co-pilots and navigators to carry personal firearms in the cockpits. That liberty will end on November 14.
*The federal government is in the process of taking over all security for the airlines.
*The Department of Defense has dropped the "don't ask, don't tell" policy within the armed forces. From now on, open homosexuals are allowed to serve in the military without fear of disciplinary action. They no longer have to keep their aberrant sexual lifestyles private.
*This administration has made it clear that it does not recognize the God of the Bible to be the one true God. Virtually every public call to prayer to date has included blatant and redundant appeals to false gods.
If these early proposals are any indication as to what we may expect in the future, liberty itself is at stake! It is right that those terrorists responsible for the attacks on September 11 are brought to justice. It is not right that the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and our Christian heritage are expunged in the process.
A caged canary is secure; but it is not free. It is easier for free men to resist terrorism from afar than tyranny from within. Americans need to be very careful to not surrender liberty for the sake of security; for in so doing both are lost.
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