The War on the Bill of Rights: And the Gathering Resistance [Hardcover]

Previous assaults have all taken place in time of war. But always in time of a real war, that is to say, military actions undertaken against identifiable enemy states, ending in clear victory or withdrawal. The "war on terror" is a struggle against a permanent class of shadowy enemies. Al Qaeda is a serious threat, but while there may not always be an Al Qaeda, there will always be terrorists. Any freedom we relinquish only for the duration of the "war" on terror will be a freedom we lose forever.

Hentoff wastes no words. He doesn't rant, preferring to quote the sober judgments of the Supreme Court and the Founding Fathers. He gives us a quick but reasonably thorough overview of the many blows Ashcroft's Justice Department has rained on the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, and the principle of an open government accountable to the people. He provides the dates and notable contents of the bills, the executive orders, and the arrogations of power, usually sufficiently sourced to follow the dots in Google to the full texts. He brings the story right up to date (including the Justice Department's own stinging inspector general's report from June of 2003).

And though the crisis is urgent, Hentoff offers a lot of hope. Because, as he also documents, Americans from the grass roots to Congress, of all political persuasions, have started waking up to the danger and taking action.

Don't be confused by the one-star reviews. This is in no sense a partisan book, except to the extent that Franklin, Adams and Jefferson were partisans of liberty. Ashcroft is thoroughly bashed, but Bush hardly comes in for a mention. There are as many Republican heroes credited here - Dick Armey, Charles Grassley, Bob Barr, even Grover Norquist - as there are Democratic ones. The Bill of Rights, after all, is the common glory of every American. Ashcroft's claim, for example, (sustained by the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 8, 2002) that any President and any Attorney General have the right, on their sole say-so, to imprison any American citizen indefinitely without charges or legal representation, is a declaration of war on the spirit of America, and of everyone who values freedom. That's Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, and independents alike.

It's short. It's alarmed because the times are alarming, but it's measured in tone. It's packed with information you *should* have been reading in your paper. Do yourself and your country a favor, and read it.

Net Hentoff, of course, is an immediately suspect writer. He has an impeccable record of defending, explaining, respecting and advocating civil rights. He is one of those precious few in every society with the courage to challenge the power of government to boss people around. He functions at the level of you, me and us.

Some politicians have a different outlook; they think they deal in great national and global issues on which the future of all mankind hinges. They are wrong, of course. It's not because they are evil, though some are certainly evil. It's because the nature of representative democracy requires politicians to represent all of the people. Like any "averaging" system, it excludes anyone who is not in the white bread and vanilla pudding "middle" of society. In a free society, individuals are free to choose such exotic ideas as Thai red-curry chicken or a sunny Provencal daube.

The US Constitution and its Bill of Rights wasn't handed down to us by ancient wise politicians; it is a set of values of the American people. Personally, I have great faith in the individual wisdom of Americans. Even if everything Hentoff says comes true, I'm confident a new "American Revolution" will root out such tyranny. Hentoff is not so sanguine, he stresses the "grass roots of the Constitution" and urges freedom loving Americans to act now. Ashcroft needs to be reminded his sworn duty is to uphold the Constitution, not to cave into the fears of the chicken-hawks in the Bush administration.

Normally, civil rights is a liberal issue. But not this time. Hentoff repeatedly quotes the leading conservatives in Congress, plus right-wing papers such as The Washington Times. A lot of people across the politiocal spectrum are genuinely upset about the threat to our basic rights. It is an issue that concerns all those interested in individual freedom, and his book draws from an eclectic range of sources.

Okay, so Attorney General John Ashcroft says his trashing of civil rights is necessary to fight terrorism. Under the new laws, Hentoff points out that a person who stands peacefully outside an abortion clinic to urge women not to have an abortion could technically be charged as a terrorist and lose all of their civil and legal rights. Will this happen? Well, it's not likely (cross-your-fingers) under Ashcroft -- but he (hopefully) isn't Attorney General-for-life.

Far-fetched? Well, remember the 1930s when mobsters weren't convicted of being killers? Convictions were based on income tax charges. Remember the Mississippi murders of civil rights workers in the 1960s? Their murderers were not convicted of murder; they were nailed for violating the civil rights of the victims. The lesson is that if the government wants to convict a person, they will find a way. In this book, Hentoff shows how the government now has hundreds of new ways of convicting any individual who upsets these new absolute monarchs of madness. King George III should have been so lucky!!!

Hentoff offers enough examples to frighten everyone who values American rights. What can you do on an individual basis? Well, people who love liberty in many communities have persuaded local governments to enact policies refusing to cooperate with the police state envisioned by Ashcroft. This book provides dozens of reasons to take such action.