A soundbite I heard on the radio this morning from an unnamed politician on the subject of liberties and security:
"The Bill of Rights" is not a suicide pact."
Those words brought the current conundrum into sharp focus for me. The Founding Fathers may have feared, but not intended, that our Freedoms would be used against us as a defensive weapon by our enemies. Your screen namesake was the first president to face this issue head on in a fight for America's very survival. Well, here we go again!
I agree that there may come a time when a national ID card might be reasonable, as well as some restrictions on our privacy. However, I don't believe that we have come anywhere close to that time, even if this Anthrax situation turns out to be much worse than it currently is. I certainly don't think it will EVER get to the point where using nukes will be a reasonable response. I just thank God that Rep. Steve Buyer, if he is doing anything more than blowing off steam, is not making the decisions right now.
And whatever happened to "Give me liberty or give me death!"?
That's why the Constitution can be amended.