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Despite
all the rhetoric and mobilization of the police and military,
the only real act of successfully opposing terrorists occurred
when civilians took matters into their own hands on the fourth
hijacked plane on September 11. While our government has failed
miserably to protect anyone, this foiling of a fourth attack,
apparently targeted against the White House, shows that our fellow
citizens are still our best defense.
Homeland
security and wars against terrorism are not enough. Even a return
to a prosperous economy is not enough. Americans demand and deserve
something far more important: the protection and defense of America's
Bill of Rights.
Our
highest priority is, has always been, and should always be, defending
the inalienable rights guaranteed by our Constitution. Every elected
official and military officer is sworn to "protect and defend
the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,"
not the President or Congress.
Brave
American men and woman gave their lives to defend and uphold our
Constitution. That's why all Americans must oppose any action
that undermines those freedoms or betrays these brave patriots
and the rights they fought to uphold. These courageous Americans
understood that inalienable rights cannot be separated from us
by any law, regulation, Presidential order or Supreme Court. We
need to respect and uphold our inalienable rights as indivisible
and absolute.
Anything
in any bill before any legislature that would infringe on our
rights should be seen as a an unpatriotic action that helps terrorists
by undermining our heritage as a freedom-loving country. Those
who tell us that we must give up our freedom to fight terrorism
betray our American ideals and the real patriots who fought to
make America a beacon for freedom and justice.
Now,
all of that is about to change. As reported
in the San Francisco Chronicle, President Bush wants
to use a secret federal court to override the very Constitutional
protections that make our country so great. This federal court
has been in secret operation for 20 years and has approved 10,000
searches and surveillance and rejected only one request. If Bush
gets his wish, due process will be suspended as these cases are
expanded to include criminal cases against American citizens and
no one will be allowed to even see the evidence used against them.
In California, the Bush administration is already escalating its
war of terror against medical marijuana patients, using similar
secret courts, sealed warrants and even raiding attorneys' and
doctors' offices, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Where
does our duty lie when both America and our Constitution are under
attack on two very different fronts? Certainly not to our inept
political leaders, who got us all into this mess with their constant
meddling in the affairs of other countries. No, our duty clearly
lies with those patriots who have given their lives for our American
freedom and democracy. It is to those courageous and truly patriotic
Americans that we must be true -- by upholding our precious Constitution
and Bill of Rights, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
It
is time for America to act with its brains, not its brawn, and
uphold the very principles that have made America the greatest
nation in the world. America must continue to earn the respect
of other countries for its commitment to freedom and human rights,
not because of it military or economic strength. Whatever course
our great country may take, let us resolve that it will be our
glorious Constitution and Bill of Rights, not fear or false promises
of security, that illuminate our path.
Steve
Kubby was 1998 Libertarian Party candidate for Governor of California.
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