Saturday, October 20, 2007

[1803 - Senate ratifies Louisiana Purchase Treaty, doubling size of the country]

[1859 - John Dewey, psychologist, philosopher, born in Burlington, Vermont]

[1882 - Bela Lugosi (Blasko), actor, born in Lugos, Transylvania, Hungary]

[1905 - Ellery Queen (Frederic Dannay), author, born in Brooklyn]

[1925 - Art Buchwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, born in New York City]

[1931 - Mickey (Charles) Mantle, Baseball Hall of Famer, born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma]

[1947 - Red Scare - House Un-American Activities Committee opens investigation into communist infiltration of American movie industry]

[1965 - Last PV544 driven off Volvo assembly line]

[1973 - Sydney Opera House opens]

Plain Scared

On this anniversary of the Red Scare of the '40s and '50s it seems appropriate to take note of current scare tactics being exploited by President Bush to advance his political agenda, just as certain unscrupulous politicians did in an earlier era.

Along with the greatly increased surveillance of citizens, secret searches of telephone, email, and library records, sweeping powers under the "Patriot" act, and other unknown repressive measures we have yet to learn of, the government has made a mockery of our right to privacy in the name of the War on Terrorism. When the Attorney General (Chief law enforcement officer in the nation) makes an open call for citizens to spy on one another, you know that our rights and freedoms are in serious jeopardy. Add to this a mentality in the White House, Pentagon, and Department of Justice that holds the President and his Cabinet above the law when they say they are combating the terrorist threat, and you have the makings of a police state.

Our spineless representatives in Congress are neither a check nor a balance on the excesses of the Executive Branch. In fear of being painted as soft on terrorism in the next election they have rubber stamped or caved in to whatever the President sent them. The only bulwark against the attack on our freedoms has been the federal judiciary, but the President is moving to remove this impediment by packing the courts with loyal right wing ideologues. Osama Bin Laden should declare victory. With the help of our government he has succeeded in converting the USA into a Christian Fundamentalist Society that could prove every bit as repressive as the Muslim Fundamentalist Society he espouses.

William's Whimsical Words:

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave . . .

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