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Real0ne -> Combating Terrorism (3/11/2010 10:13:55 AM)
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Thats what I'm Talkn bout!
by William Watkins, Jr., The Independent Institute James Madison once observed that “it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.” Fear of foreign perils, Madison realized, can easily persuade a freedom-loving people to voluntarily part with liberties they would otherwise consider indispensable.
In Thomas Jefferson’s words, the people are “made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging chains for themselves.”
In making such statements on the forfeiting of precious rights during times of foreign danger, Madison and Jefferson were speaking from experience.In the 1790s, a number of Americans feared that the democratic excesses of the French Revolution would be exported to the U.S.
They believed French agents were plotting to destroy the Constitution and overthrow the federal government. Wild rumors spread that Jefferson, Madison, and other members of their Anti Federalist Standing (<- my correction added) planned to offer assistance to a French invasion force supposedly sailing across the Atlantic. To make matters worse, an undeclared naval war soon erupted between the U.S. and France.
This environment of fear and distrust led to the passage of the most illiberal legislation of the early national period: The Alien and Sedition Acts. Enacted by Congress in the summer of 1798, the Acts prohibited criticism of the federal government and gave President John Adams the power to deport any alien he viewed as suspicious.
This legislation made a mockery of the First Amendment and deprived aliens of basic due process of law.
To combat the Acts, Jefferson and Madison drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
In these Resolutions, Madison and Jefferson accused Congress of exceeding its powers and declared the Alien and Sedition Acts void.
Times were so tense that Madison and Jefferson hid the fact of their authorship because they feared prosecution under the dreaded Sedition Act.
Although the American people originally applauded the Acts, in the elections of 1800 they threw out of office many of the Acts’ supporters. Jefferson was also elected to the presidency and he suspended all prosecutions brought under these shameful measures. This so-called “Revolution of 1800” brought the crisis of the Alien and Sedition Acts to a close.
Today, similar to the 1790s, Americans sense a threat of danger from abroad. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11th attacks, Americans are concerned that terrorism will claim more innocent lives. Consequently, few voices of opposition were heard when Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. Under this legislation, government investigators can more easily eavesdrop on Internet activity, FBI agents are charged with gathering domestic intelligence, Treasury Department officials are charged with creating a financial intelligence-gathering system for use by the CIA, and the CIA is permitted use of evidence garnered by federal grand juries and criminal wiretaps.
In addition, George W. Bush signed an Executive Order providing for secret military tribunals to try suspected foreign terrorists. These courts do not apply the principles of law and rules of evidence that are used in the trial of criminal cases in U.S. district courts.
Fortunately, these measures are rather mild when compared to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. For example
http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2010/02/03/the-lessons-of-1798/
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