When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.
-Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States
See “A Political Glossary” page
These cartoons have been posted for several years, yet even with the election of Barack Obamba we find that they are still apropos. …. unfortunately.
Hallmarks of totalitarian regimes have always included an excessive reliance on secrecy, the deliberate stoking of fear in the general population, a preference for military rather than diplomatic solutions in foreign policy, the promotion of blind patriotism, the denial of human rights, the curtailment of the rule of law, hostility to a free press and the systematic invasion of the privacy of ordinary people.
– Bob Herbert, NY Times OP-ED 5/15/2006
Stay Up-to-Date: Go to the ACLU website and the EFF website
Questions Posed by the ACLU:
Here are some of the things the President has said he needs to fight terrorism. Which ones do you disapprove of?
- Allowing government agents to search people’s homes without telling them
- Allowing the government torture prisoners
- Allowing the government to open and read American’s mail and emails without telling them
- Allowing the government to secretly listen in on telephone calls of Americans without a court warrant
- Allowing government agents to obtain people’s library records from librarians without telling the individuals
- Allowing government surveillance of protest organizations in the United States such as Greenpeace and Quaker peace groups