"The
history of liberty is a history of the limitations of governmental
power, not the increase of it."
-
Woodrow Wilson
Though
the PATRIOT Act was initially deemed the biggest government
power grab in recent history, the Homeland Security Act
was criticized by lawmakers for expanding "the federal
police state" and "culture of secrecy" even
further. Recently leaked draft legislation, the "Domestic
Security Act of 2003," indicates that the Justice Department
is proposing ways to strip Americans of their citizenship,
considering secret arrests for the first time in U.S. history,
and trimming judicial oversight while increasing the government's
power. The latest warning concerning "anti-American
extremists" makes an interesting semantic leap, too.
By focusing on "extremists" instead of "terrorists,"
everyone is now suspect -- making citizens more likely to
welcome a loss of liberty in exchange for security
