I looked at your link, and maybe I missed something, because I didn't come away from this with the same impression you have.
From Keene's column...
I’m glad that George Bush sits in the White House and that Ashcroft is his attorney general. I even believe them when they say that they are only doing that which they believe they need to do to protect us. They argue convincingly, I think, that roving wiretaps, reading people’s e-mail, putting video cameras on every corner, and perusing their library habits will make it easier to catch terrorists before they act. They can even make a case that by establishing a Castro-like system of informants or requiring us all to carry ID cards they will be able to make it more difficult for terrorists to move around.
The problem is that, once all of this is in place, we will no longer be living in the same country we lived in prior to Sept. 11. It may still look like the United States, but one wonders if it will feel like the United States.
I suspect we’ll survive these excesses as we have in the past, but those asking us to give up liberty for security should be careful. That liberty survives such crises at all is an amazing endorsement of the wisdom of the Founders, but each time we face such a crisis, we seem to lose more freedom than we get back when it ends.
Young conservatives of my generation read a slight volume penned at the turn of the last century by a fellow by the name of William Graham Sumner titled The Conquest of the United States by Spain. It was an attack on the Spanish-American War, but raised a perplexing and enduring question: What does a nation gain if, in its quest for security, it surrenders that which it set out to secure?
Those who seek to protect us must keep one eye on that they seek to protect. Ashcroft is a good man trying to do a difficult job, and for that, I admire him. But I would advise him to read Sumner’s little book lest we end up with a new one titled The Conquest of the United States by al Qaeda.
If I understand this correctly, Keene supports Ashcroft, the President, and the Patriot Act in principle, although he sounds a few cautionary notes about the survival of our liberties. That's about where I stand on that particular matter. I agree on the general need for the measures implemented by the Patriot Act, as we are at war (although I reserve the right to nit-pick various particulars).
To me, it appears that in the paragraph you excerpted, Keene was talking about the feelings of other conservatives. As I read his column, it seemed to me that those weren't reflective of his feelings.
Thanks for the link to the other thread.
