The Bush administration might have bungled the handling of
Hurricane Katrina and may have been a tad off the mark in the whole
WMD/"Iraqis will greet us as liberators" deal, but (contrary to
popular belief) Dubya's posse seems to have hit upon an ingenious strategy for
emerging victorious in the much celebrated war on terror.
President George W. Bush tells us, "You've just got to
understand that the enemy hates us because of what we love. . . . They hate
everything about us because of our freedom."
This is precisely where our fearless leader goes into
hardcore cunning mode by implementing the authorizing and re-authorizing of a
program of domestic spying.
"I have re-authorized this program more than 30
times," the president said. "I intend to do so for as long as our
nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups." To
those Americans worried about the impact of such programs on their civil
liberties, Bush explained, "If somebody from al Qaeda is calling you, we'd
like to know why." He added, "I think most Americans understand the
need to find out what the enemy's thinking."
Here's some of what the enemy is thinking, straight from our
man in the White House: "They hate us because we love political discourse
and a free society . . . The more we speak our mind freely, the more they hate
us." Obviously, this is a situation that requires scrutiny.
Enter the "Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism
Act," a.k.a. the USA PATRIOT Act. Passed in the aftermath of 9/11, this
act includes what the ACLU calls "a host of alarming and unconstitutional
anti-speech provisions" and has been condemned by three state legislatures
and almost 250 municipalities across the United States.
Adele Welty says the USA PATRIOT Act is "a serious
threat to the exercise of our constitutional rights." Welty's son Timothy
lost his life in the WTC collapse -- one of the 343 firefighters who died that
day. She later testified before the New York City Council and said, in part:
"[The USA PATRIOT Act] undermines our Fourth Amendment right to privacy
and expands the ability of the government to use wiretaps and computer surveillance
and to look at confidential medical, financial, business and educational
records."
Let's be clear, the squashing of civil liberties is hardly a
novel idea. One may recall Bill Clinton's Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act (1996), Woodrow Wilson's Espionage and Sedition Act (1917), or the
FBI Counterintelligence Program, COINTELPRO (1956-1971). Also,
Japanese-Americans in the 1940s just might have something to say about FDR's
concept of freedom. Doling out and taking away rights is practically a hobby
for America's power elite . . . but this is the first time we're faced with an
enemy who attacks us solely because we enjoy freedom. In such a situation, I
think Bush, Condi, Rummy and the gang have conjured up the only logical scheme:
remove the source of the problem.
When faced with an enemy that hates your freedoms, you dump
the freedoms. No freedoms, no hatred. No hatred, no suicide bombers. A simple
plan from a simple man: George W. Bush, tactical mastermind.
Mickey
Z. is the author of several books, most recently "50 American Revolutions
You're Not Supposed to Know" (Disinformation Books). He can be found
on the Web at www.mickeyz.net/.