In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, President Bush proclaimed Sept. 11 Patriot’s Day in commemoration of those who died. He vowed they wouldn’t be forgotten and he asked Americans to “remember and honor those who perished.” He spoke these words just one week prior to the first anniversary of the tragedy.
Two years later the country continues to reverberate with aftershocks. It’s popped up in every aspect of my life, at school, work, even when I go home and turn on the radio or TV there it is again. People are discussing the events and the media is broadcasting its effects. The effects of the attacks are far reaching and continuous. Just recently an exhaustive article was written detailing the breakdown of the manager from the Comfort Inn in South Portland, (where the terrorists stayed) who suffered from the pressures of relentless investigations. Though she didn’t lose a loved one, she certainly experienced a loss.
Sept 11 momentarily asphyxiated our nation and President Bush rightly memorialized it. However his and others’ actions since have been inappropriate. The Patriot Act feeds off Americans’ fears of violation and death and unjustly infringes upon First Amendment rights. Bush has utilized the fear of attack as a tool for action more times than I can count. He used it for ammo in the war effort as well as his quickly passed Patriot Act. Now he’s dusting it off and shining it up for use again in the coming days as he attempts to “untie the hands of our law enforcement officials” by expanding the Patriot Act. He argues that law enforcement is still too restricted to effectively proceed with its task (ie catching evil terrorists). Americans quickly bought into the passage of the first Patriot Act, which effectively wiped away on-line privacy. With the implementation of the Patriot Act, the government can approach any company and begin surveillance of its employees and the company is prohibited from ever telling their employees of the surveillance
If that isn’t enough, Bush spoke Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 and claimed “under current federal law, there are unreasonable obstacles to investigating and prosecuting terrorism.” So he begins a new crusade. This time he plans to “revoke citizenship of terrorist suspects and build DNA databases of people associated with terrorist groups” (The Washington Post Sept 11). What next? Every time he gains an inch he’s in the process of planning the next mile. And his tactics are sacrilegious. He’s using marketing techniques similar to those of LUVS commercials. He grabs people by their emotions, take ’em on a ride and sets them back down exactly where he wants them to be, in a place of fear and paranoia.
The government claims the Patriot act has been successful in derailing four terrorist cells but has presented no information to back this claim. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last year but was unable to proceed with it. They did manage to acquire six piddly pages of information from the Department of Justice, nearly all of which was blacked out. Nothing was ascertained from its contents.
Americans cannot go blindly following a leader whose agenda is hidden from the public. Though the government claims the Patriot Act has been used for security against terrorism, where is the proof and how do we know that’s all it’s used for?
Christy McKinnon can be contacted at [email protected].