Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

NPR has had a very good and balanced series of commentaries about civil liberties in the United States and the "War on terrorism". These commentaries are separate pieces of a one hour documentary prepared by reporter Barbara Bradley.

The series has touched on viewpoints from both sides. While there are some that actually DEFEND the actions of the United States government and the Bush administration it is clear that many legal experts and scholars also agree that civil liberties are being trampled in a an abject manner.

The series deals with this topic and it highlights what I have felt and ranted about for some time, the government is over the line.

For example the series talks about Muslims whom are justifiably afraid to go to mosques. Apparently the FBI in all of its expertise is staking out religious gathering places and then "processing" people based on that very broad surveillance. This processing

Then based on the processing many people are being deported and or prosecuted. Seems to me that a mosque is a PRIVATE place (not going to rant on privacy here, as other posts here have expounded upon I am NOT a privacy freak when it comes to public places, but a mosque would not be a public place) and that any surveillance there SHOULD be directed at a specific issue and based on a warrant? At least that was the old thinking before the current administration and the "War".

Many of the people questioned are not in this country legally, imagine that, and are then deported. A few people have been detained based on suspicions aroused as a result of the surveillance . The result of all this? People wont go to mosques, the Muslim community is NOT friendly towards or willing to help law enforcement and some illegal aliens get deported. (On the point of deportation, I feel the absolutely SHOULD be deported if they are here illegally, but then that gets into another entire debate about who should and should not be legal and the overall US policies of immigration).

This surveillance is of course allowed now based on the "USA Patriot Act" which congress passed at the urging of the President earlier in the year.

That type of behavior, scrutinizing a PRIVATE place without any due cause AT ALL is crazy. Yes it will yield some minor violations such as immigration issues, and it MIGHT uncover a bigger criminal but couldnt the same be said if we were to surveil the local McDonalds or local Safeway or local Catholic Church (might find some pedophiles at least and do better than immigration violations)? There needs to be CAUSE and a WARRANT from a COURT, not blanket surveillance based on being a Muslim alone.

That alone is in my opinion a problem. Couple that with other even more egregious civil liberties abuses and we have an epidemic of civil liberty trashing. For example the classification of any detainee as an "enemy combatant". That is a disingenuous move designed merely to avoid dealing with civil liberties and indeed the entire judicial system.

It is one thing when people captured in another country in the midst of a battle are removed from that country and detained as combatants. That case actually fits the term and definition of "enemy combatant". That case should STILL be scrutinized carefully and overseen by an international court. However when American Citizens are detained and labeled enemy combatants its TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. Several American citizens have been totally denied due process in the name of the war on terror. Nothing is more terrifying than the actions of the government to skirt due process. No lawyer, no phone call, no CHARGE, just whisked away as an "enemy combatant" for however long the government pleases? Again, totally unacceptable and the American people should be outraged.

Dont get me wrong, in all of these cases these are probably VERY BAD people that need to be dealt with. So be it, get a warrant, make a charge, see a judge, have a trial then dispense the punishment. In my opinion many of these people should possibly even be put to death (for example someone that is PROVEN to have been trying to detonate a "dirty bomb" in any populated area, America or not), but that or ANY punishment should only be after a trial has taken place.

The Bush administration has issued many executive orders dealing with nondisclosure of information, pushed for and passed many laws concerning law enforcement being able to act unchecked and in many many ways become the gestapo. This is America in the year 2002, civil liberties are dead.

For more see the linked NPR article, but beware of who may be watching the links you click on and what you say.
  Civil Liberties and the War on Terrorism: NPR