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Anticipating Prison:
By William E. Steinman:
September 22, 2003:
This essay is an interruption of my series on History and Evolution. I will pick up on that later if I am allowed to, but this is too important to defer. It is also too important for the forum. It must be in my main column under my name. Although not part of my series it is in the same vein concerning democracy and humanity.
It is possible that I will go to prison soon, unless the Patriot Act is repealed. To be sure, going to prison is not something I would look forward to or enjoy. I am pretty old. I will be 73 on September 24. Because of age and medical problems, I have a very decrepit body. Even in a good bed I can not sleep more than 2 hours at a stretch until my muscles and joints need a stretch and change of position. I dread the though of a prison cot.
There are just myself and a few people like me who provide the Tylenol people their main market. Four extra strength caplets a day is average for me. For worse days, when I do something careless, I have Darvocet and finally Tylenol III (Codeine)to get me through the occasional dreadful day. The Codeine is left over from a bout with back spasms. I saved it, but I resist taking it because it disconnects me from reality. There are some who would seek out that kind of experience. I am not among them. I think taking drugs for recreation is a form of insanity.
In addition to pain medication, I have prescriptions for a few other ailments, like heart problems and high blood pressure. For those, I take Persantine, Imdur, and Norvasc. If it were not for medical co-pay insurance, I would be bankrupt. And, oh yes, did I mention Vioxx? Tell me getting old is fun!
The thing is, I am quite certain if I go to prison I will die there. Even young healthy people do not have an easy time. For me, the combination of prison conditions and my infirmities would be deadly. For sure, I would not like that. I am no martyr but I find that circumstances are limiting my options.
I have one rather serious self-destructive behavior pattern. I have found it much too easy to do brave things when the consequences are fairly certain, but not immediate. Too often, I will do things that are not undoable. I cannot tell you how many times that has got me beat up. Now I have done it again.
This one concerns the Patriot Act. Many people may not know and many others pretend to not know about this act. The administration is making the pretense that this is just a consolidation of several older laws. Many other people who know better are pretending to believe that. That pretense is a pack of lies. The Patriot Act is a new law deliberately designed to circumvent our Bill of Rights. In particular the first and fourth amendments are set aside under this new law. For example, one provision of this thing is a calculated violation of the first amendment.
In case you forgot, here is the first amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
This Patriot Act gives the government the powers to demand confidential library, Internet, and bookstore records. They can find out who is reading what with no legal process to slow them down.
Well, this is where I get involved. I am a publisher you see. Some may say my claim to being a publisher is a pretense. It is true, I am not a very successful publisher. I have probably given new meaning to the word struggle. In fact, I am hemorrhaging red ink. I have not sold enough books to pay for my stationary, but I have sold some. Now, with this new law, the government can demand that I provide the names and addresses of my handful of customers.
Since they have the law, I feel it is only a matter of time before they sweep the net over the entire publishing industry. With that in mind, in defiance of Ashcroft I have consciously and deliberately destroyed all of my inventory and sales records. They are gone, from my files and my computer. Of course, that only took a few minutes. Now, I am not sure if Ashcroft will bother with someone as small as me. If he does, when the feds demand my records, I will have to tell them that I destroyed them, not by accident. That, I am sure, will land me in prison.
There is no reason to believe that a terrorist would want any of my books, or find them particularly useful for his trade. I am convinced this does not matter to Ashcroft. I honestly believe this is not about terrorism. It is about raw power. This Patriot Act is frighteningly similar in design and, I believe, purpose to the Enabling Act that was handed to Hitler by the Reichstag on March 23, 1933. The biggest difference is the Rechstag did it under fear for their lives because of Hitler's thugs. Our rubber stamp congress did it willing.
Ashcroft is now empowered to do to anyone he chooses exactly what Hitler did to the Jews and others in Germany. He can spy on them, imprison them without charges, isolate them, and transport them to hidden locations. He can violate every provision of the first, fourth, fifth, and sixth amendments.
In case you forgot, here are the other three.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable
cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing
the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Now, there are a great number of people who know about this Patriot Act and they prefer to stick their heads in the sand. I have a very good friend who pooh poohs me whenever I try to discuss it with him. He is just as bright as I am and he sees the same information I do, but he chooses to not believe the evidence before his eyes. I am sure my friend will care if I go to prison. I cannot believe he does not care. So what it comes down to is he just does not want to believe it.
This is exactly the same attitude taken by thousands of people in Germany after the Enabling Act. Even most of the Jews took this, "It just can't be so," position. Rather than flee, they sat around in their homes pretending to do business as usual until the door burst open and the police stormed in. It is so. It is happening here. It is happening to Arab Americans. It can happen to anyone. Ashcroft has the power. He will use it.
Think about this. There are a large number of bully boys in our federal law enforcement establishment. They got into law enforcement exactly because of their personality type. They crave and enjoy power. They want to exercise power over other people. Some of these thugs have waited their whole lifetimes hoping that someone like Ashcroft would come to power and give them permission. Now he has and the dogs are loose. They won't stop with Arabs. Even if it was limited to Arabs, you know it's wrong.
Currently, the government is pushing for a more sweeping act, called Patriot Act II which would dramatically expand their power to abridge our rights. What do you think will be next? After he got his enabling act, Hitler suspended elections and democracy in Germany was finished until America restored it in the late forties.
An evil has overtaken our culture. It has been festering for
decades. The tragedy of September 11 has somehow released it.
Evil men have come to power. We can either stand up or hunker
down. Which we do will determine the future of America, the future
of our children, the future of democracy. What happened in Germany
in the thirties is now happening here. It is time to make our
choices. The evil dogs are loose. We can appease them and hope
they will kill us last or we can stand up. There are no other
choices.
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