-Ian.
--------------- http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20030704tony107col2p2.asp
Oh, say, can you see what's happening to our liberties? Friday, July 04, 2003
The 227 years since the summer of 1776 haven't always gone smoothly, but the republic is still here. The tensions that periodically threaten to rip our country apart are cyclical in nature and revolve around the nation's commitment to the principle of justice for all, a sentiment enshrined in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Because we're a thoroughly secular people who resort to religious language more out of convenience than out of a deeply ingrained sense of piety, we're capable of getting into ridiculous donnybrooks over the placement of creches, menorahs and the Ten Commandments in the public square. Idolatry may be as American as apple pie, but we prefer to wrap it in swaddling clothes and call it democracy.
In the hierarchy of the sacred, nothing enflames the American imagination quite like the flag, the most ubiquitous of our national religious symbols. Resplendent with white stripes and two of the color wheel's three primary colors, the star-spangled banner comes saddled with mythologies most Americans feel comfortable pledging undying fealty to, but can't be bothered to familiarize themselves with.
Like daydreaming through catechism class, most of us pick up enough of what the sacred buzzwords of democracy mean to fake our way through an impromptu confession of faith. In those terrifying moments when we're called upon to regurgitate our highest ideals, we're ready -- just like patriotic macaws and mynah birds.
The proliferation of flags after the agony of Sept. 11 should've been a sign of our renewed resolve to truly embody the values we've paid so much lip service to over two centuries, but it wasn't. Are there truths we consider self-evident? If so, what are they? Are we using the opportunities provided by this struggle against terrorism and crypto-religious fascism to advance our civilization or are we undermining it in a haze of patriotic fervor meant to mask our fear?
It's a legitimate question on the most patriotic day of the year, especially when one takes into account that despite the presence of flags on every front porch in the aftermath of the terror attacks, the voting booths have never been emptier.
The radio antennae of gas guzzlers in America might have flags attached to them, but every election since Sept. 11, 2001, has been an emptier ritual than the one that preceded it. Given the encroachment on our civil liberties by the Bush administration, this is not the time for Americans who claim they honor and cherish our democracy to withdraw from the political process.
I've never envied the citizens of another country as much as I did three days ago. More than 350,000 protesters in Hong Kong rallied against anti-subversion laws handed down by the doddering autocrats of Beijing that, if enacted, would strip millions of people of civil liberties they've taken for granted since the province was a British colony.
Regardless of whether one thinks the intentions of the Bush administration are honorable, the Justice Department under John Ashcroft is pursuing policies that are as contemptuous of our civil liberties as those concocted by China's communist government to squelch dissent in Hong Kong.
But in the grandest tradition of American democracy, there is a growing coalition of voices on the political left and right who recognize this assault on our civil liberties for what it is.
With every attempt to obscure its intentions with euphemisms and acronyms -- Strategic Disinformation, TIA (born as "Total Information Awareness," but changed to "Terrorism Information Awareness"), USA Patriot Act, Homeland Security, Carnivore -- there are civil libertarians of every stripe raising awareness about the government's threat to our hard-won freedoms.
The creation of Draconian laws to detain foreigner suspects without trial or legal counsel along with the wholesale monitoring of American citizens should be a greater source of outrage for the electorate than it has been so far. How does one account for this complacency?
Doesn't the biggest threat to our civil liberties in two centuries warrant as much media attention as the Laci Peterson case or the revelations about John and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's difficult marriage? With luck, we'll eventually recover the spirit of patriotic vigilance embodied by such American heroes as Paul Revere and Tom Paine. As we celebrate the nation's birthday, their kind of patriotism is the only kind that can save us.
Tony Norman can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 412-263-1631. ___________________________________________________________
FoIB Mailing List - Bits, Analysis, Digital Group Therapy
http://www.ianbell.com
