Free Republic

Masked Palestinian militants from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades ask (ask????) a shop keeper to close his store as part of a general strike to protest against Israeli excavations near the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, in the West Bank city of Hebron February 7, 2007. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun (WEST BANK)

The resemblance grows between the Bush administration and the sinister, monolithic political party INGSOC, from George Orwell's novel "1984," with every twisted and evasive defense for the violation of American civil rights. Bush and Co.'s battle against terrorism has turned into a power grab and a war on Americans. Fear and contorted language are the weapons of choice. The administration's assertive actions after 9/11 might have made sense in the raw aftermath of nearly 3,000 dead. With time and distance comes perspective. Those new presidential controls awarded to help ensure the safety of Americans now look more like the political...

For years I've been driving loads of dry cleaning, overdue books and groceries past the Lake Forest Park for Peace vigils on Saturday mornings at Ballinger and Bothell ways. Last weekend, Christmas Eve, I finally stopped. Two weeks earlier, the group had passed the three-year mark. Every Saturday since Dec. 14, 2002, a hardy band of strangers turned friends and family has stood at the intersection of personal conscience and public scrutiny to protest the war in Iraq. This is a busy corner. The peace vigil holds forth from 11 a.m. to noon. A grassy, triangular traffic divider is covered...