Tuesday, November 6, 2007

What we're fighting at home

Why are some people in the United States deeply concerned about the Bush administration's consistent attempts to consolidate power in the executive branch? Just look at what's happening in Pakistan.


The "president," Gen. Pervez Musharraf, eliminated a supreme court justice and sent the military to take over the capital, Islamabad, because of a "threat of terrorists."


Musharraf is using the specter of terrorism to seize power and eliminate political enemies who would see a more democratic, less authoritarian, Pakistan.


It sounds oddly familiar to those who have watched President Bush and his cohorts push for warantless wiretapping, secret renditions, and even forms of torture (though we don't call them torture) with the threat of terrorism used as an excuse.


Recall the paraphrased words of Ben Franklin: "Those who would give up liberty for security deserve neither."

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