FDR is Still Right (Hal Cohen)

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Fear is anathema to freedom. Fear gave us the Japanese internment camps, and the McCarthy hearings. Fear gave us Hollywood’s blacklist. Fear passed the Patriot Act, and Fear allows warrantless wiretaps and suspension of habeas corpus. It is time to turn from fear and toward hope. Fear is truly our most dangerous enemy.

Hal Cohen -- World News Trust

Feb. 26, 2007 -- We all know the famous quote by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” We probably don’t think about it, be we could all use a good reminder. There is nothing we need fear so much as the state of being afraid.

September 11 scared us all, and rightfully so. In the aftermath of the attacks, our noses bloodied, our eyes blinded by tears, we couldn’t see whether or not another hit was coming. It became more important to “feel” safe than to actually “be” safe. We passed the Patriot Act.

I applaud the wisdom of the senators who put sunset clauses on many provisions of the act because they knew it was passed at a time of fear. When we are afraid we are willing to sacrifice some control to allay our fears. This is what enables people like Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan) to defend attacks on our civil rights by saying, “You have no civil liberties when you’re dead.”

While that may be true, it sounds un-American to me. We are supposed to accept this oh-so-minor assault on civil liberties, so that they can keep us alive. Aren’t we most proud of our freedom? New Hampshire, whose state motto is Live Free or Die, is. Given the choice, in one of the most famous quotes from our colonial days, Patrick Henry said, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1297&Itemid=10029

[CrazyOrangeCat]

1. K&R

Truth>Fear

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2. Yes, Hal Articulates What A Lot Of People Are Thinking About This

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3. Kicking It For Hal...

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