Fear is anathema to freedom. Fear gave us the Japanese internment camps, and the McCarthy hearings. Fear gave us Hollywood’s blacklist. Fear passed the Patriot Act, and Fear allows warrantless wiretaps and suspension of habeas corpus. It is time to turn from fear and toward hope. Fear is truly our most dangerous enemy.
Hal Cohen -- World News Trust
Feb. 26, 2007 -- We all know the famous quote by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” We probably don’t think about it, be we could all use a good reminder. There is nothing we need fear so much as the state of being afraid.
September 11 scared us all, and rightfully so. In the aftermath of the attacks, our noses bloodied, our eyes blinded by tears, we couldn’t see whether or not another hit was coming. It became more important to “feel” safe than to actually “be” safe. We passed the Patriot Act.
I applaud the wisdom of the senators who put sunset clauses on many provisions of the act because they knew it was passed at a time of fear. When we are afraid we are willing to sacrifice some control to allay our fears. This is what enables people like Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan) to defend attacks on our civil rights by saying, “You have no civil liberties when you’re dead.”
While that may be true, it sounds un-American to me. We are supposed to accept this oh-so-minor assault on civil liberties, so that they can keep us alive. Aren’t we most proud of our freedom? New Hampshire, whose state motto is Live Free or Die, is. Given the choice, in one of the most famous quotes from our colonial days, Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”
This brings me to Ben Franklin who said, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” So, to Senator Roberts I say I’ll take my chances, thank you very much. What’s more, I don’t have to choose life or liberty. According to the Declaration of Independence, I have an unalienable right to both life and liberty, not to mention the pursuit of happiness among others not enumerated.
Fear is why it takes harsher laws to deal with 19 men with pocket knives and box cutters than it did to cow the Soviet Union. Shortly after rumors of an attack on New York’s subway system came to light, and police were dispatched to various stations to search our bags, I was approached by a reporter. He wanted to know if I was afraid of another terrorist attack. I told him, “No. I expect one.”
Terrorists attack. It’s what they do. We don’t need new laws to stop them, nor do we need to circumvent current law. Complying with FISA we intercepted calls between hijackers on Sept. 10th (We didn’t translate them until the 12th). The reason that we didn’t download the contents of Zacaraious Moussoui’s computer is not because we couldn’t get a warrant, but because we didn’t apply for one.
Nobody can honestly say that 9/11 could have been prevented, but let me ask two questions. First, when the FBI reported to President Bush that they were involved in 55 surveillance operations of potential terrorists on U.S. soil, instead of reacting as though “ok, they’re doing their job” he demanded a complete briefing asking who they are, and what do we think they are trying to do, could some dots have been connected?
Secondly, then National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice testified that they knew Al-Qaida had plans that involved hijackings, but thought they would just involve hostages. What if she asked how hard is it to hijack planes and what are we doing to try and prevent it? Could these two hypotheticals have prevented the attacks? The only thing that is clear is that they weren’t asked. Here’s another one: Would a less fearful nation have allowed this Administration to shred the Constitution?
Fear is anathema to freedom. Fear gave us the Japanese internment camps, and the McCarthy hearings. Fear gave us Hollywood’s blacklist. Fear passed the Patriot Act, and Fear allows warrantless wiretaps and suspension of habeas corpus. It is time to turn from fear and toward hope. Fear is truly our most dangerous enemy.