Those of us that protested the so-called “PATRIOT” act were criticized as being “soft on terrorists”. We’ve been told that the taking away of our civil liberties is just a temporary measure until the terrorist problem is solved. And we’re told that the sweeping new powers that Congress has been giving the government will only be used to fight terrorism. (This last claim has already been repeatedly demonstrated to be false.)
Robert Harris writes in the New York Times that Rome faced their own crisis in 68 B.C. that was similar to our September 11 attacks. An important port was burned down, a fleet was destroyed, and two Senators and their staff and bodyguards were kidnapped. This was all accomplished not by an enemy state, but by a rogue organization not unlike Al Qaeda.
The Roman response was similar to our own. The Senate immediately started granting more power to the government to fight the terrorism.  This led to huge accumulations of money and power by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and a decade later by Julius Caeser. The result was the effective destruction of the Roman constitution.
As George Santayana said, “Thosw who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  We are shredding our own Constitution in the attempt to improve our national security. We are giving up the very liberties that make our nation worth protecting.
Road to Ruin II
Those of us that protested the so-called “PATRIOT” act were criticized as being “soft on terrorists”. We’ve been told that the taking away of our civil liberties is just a temporary measure until the terrorist problem is solved. And we’re told that the sweeping new powers that Congress has been giving the government will only be used to fight terrorism. (This last claim has already been repeatedly demonstrated to be false.)
Robert Harris writes in the New York Times that Rome faced their own crisis in 68 B.C. that was similar to our September 11 attacks. An important port was burned down, a fleet was destroyed, and two Senators and their staff and bodyguards were kidnapped. This was all accomplished not by an enemy state, but by a rogue organization not unlike Al Qaeda.
The Roman response was similar to our own. The Senate immediately started granting more power to the government to fight the terrorism.  This led to huge accumulations of money and power by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and a decade later by Julius Caeser. The result was the effective destruction of the Roman constitution.
As George Santayana said, “Thosw who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  We are shredding our own Constitution in the attempt to improve our national security. We are giving up the very liberties that make our nation worth protecting.