Judge Robert Bork addresses the chicken-littles who are calling the Bush administration's domestic security efforts oppressive and fascistic, and then shouting "McCarthyism" when their criticism is answered. Although the government's tactics always bear watching, we are very, very far from fascism or anything like it. As usual, Bork's analysis is detailed and persuasive. A few excerpts:
The fact that opponents of the Bush administration’s efforts to protect American security have resorted to often shameless misrepresentation and outright scaremongering does not mean those efforts are invulnerable to criticism. They are indeed vulnerable—for not going far enough.Posted by Alan at July 19, 2003 11:36 AMThe war we are in, like no other we have ever faced, may last for decades rather than years. The enemy blends into our population and those of other nations around the world, attacks without warning, and consists of men who are quite willing to die in order to kill us and destroy our civilization. Never before has it been possible to imagine one suicidal individual, inspired by the promise of paradise and armed with a nuclear device, able to murder tens or even hundreds of thousands of Americans in a single attack. Those facts justify what the administration has already done, and urgently require more.
It is demonstrably true, moreover, that people who recklessly exaggerate the threat to our liberties in the fight against terrorism do give ammunition, moral and otherwise, to our enemies. Asserting as much does not impugn the loyalty of such people. They are perfectly free to say what they think, and as loudly as they please. But neither should they themselves be immune from criticism, even by a government official.
via Commentary