[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Sinister Plots and Nefarious Doings (long)
'lo all,
I'm gonna jump in here for a moment. People on the list are starting to
sound jes' a wee bit paranoid here. I really don't think big brother is
watching us, nor does he have time to while he's busy trying to perforate
Osama Bin Laden.
Access to records should be restricted sometimes, and we do it all the time
- we close records until the death of the author; we close medical records;
we close board minutes, and nobody complains about it, as we are (rightly, I
think) protecting people's privacy. Should we not protect their health and
safety as well? Are the terrorists going to bomb Joe's Grocery at 4th &
Main? Maybe not, but the post 9/11 world does mean we (like all Americans)
have a responsibility to be more vigilant, and if that means asking a few
more questions before handing over blueprints or anything else, I'm OK with
it.
I heard Joe DiGenova (sp?), a former US Attorney & federal prosecutor, on
Imus this morning, and he made some very valid points in reference to the
"massive attacks" on civil liberties being yelled about. The government is
fully within its rights to hold military tribunals in a time of war (and if
you don't think we're at war, wake up folks); the lack of information about
the detainees is by their choice, as they are apparently allowed to give out
their names if they choose; and most of these people are being held on
immigration violations, so we're just enforcing laws already on the books.
There is no major loss of civil liberties to US citizens, and I can live
with it if that changes, as long as it's done to protect our country and
what it stands for.
DiGenova said "the US Constitution is not a suicide pact", quoting a judge
of some sort (a Google search had it attributed to at least three different
judges on the first page of hits alone), and what I think he meant by that
is that we can be loose in our interpretation of the constitution in time of
great need. Bearing in mind that the detainees are not US citizens anyway
(and at the very least immigration law violators), the government's
responsibility lies in protecting the rest of us.
So my suggestion to us all is to calm down. The US will deal with the
important stuff first, and that's hurting the people who did this and
preventing further death and destruction. For our part, we need to be
vigilant - not turning in every bloke who asks for blueprints (paranoia runs
all ways, usually gibbering in panic), but taking reasonable precautions to
protect our country & everything in it. The smaller issues, like protecting
access to public information, can be handled in the normal means - public
hearings, court challenges, etc. If the executive order turns out to be
against the law, we'll raise our voices (I already have to my
representative) and work to change it as Americans always do in non-lethal
situations.
If you're not happy about the direction American life is taking, tough.
There are many thousands of dead Americans killed by these terrorist
dirtbags; their families are without husbands, wives, fathers, mothers,
brothers & sisters, coworkers and friends. Ask the 1300 kids left without
their fathers, brave firemen and cops who walked into the WTC to help others
out, how they feel about giving up civil liberties. If you can't accept
these changes happily, at least remember that we're making VERY SMALL
sacrifices in light of what others have given and continue to give.
______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu
A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
In body of message: SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
*or*: UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
Problems? Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>