Sept. 06, 2003 - 23:08 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Two Schools Of Thought

I learned a word new to me, but which says the way I also see things nowadays. The Word is "arrogate" and its definition is: To claim or seize without justification as one's right.

It is used in an article by Robyn Blumner of the St. Petersburg Times in The Rocky Mountain News of September 6, 2003.

Headed: Columnist chronicles erosion of liberties since Sept. 11, 2001

She remarks, "But what concerned me most was that the likes of George Bush and John Ashcroft were at the helm. Would they respect the values that define this nation and uphold the rule of law, separation of powers and individual rights ? Or would they use this time of heightened anxiety as an opportunity to bulldoze any limits on their power ? Not surprisingly, they chose the latter route. We wake up two years later in a far diminished republic. The Bush administration has gone about this "war on terrorism" as though it were a war on the Bill Of Rights."

"If you want proof, I commend a new book by that title from syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff, which vividly describes the chilling compendium of abuses committed by our government since Sept. 11, 2001. The War on the Bill of Rights -- and the Gathering Resistance," http://www.sevenstories.com.

Ms. Blumner made this remark, "Should be required reading in every high school government class. Drawing parallels to; McCarthyismn and COINTELPRO, the FBI's attempt to undermine the civil rights movement, Hentoff chronicles a great wrong inflicted by government -- one we are still living, and one we will, like the others come to regret."

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If I remember correctly Nat Hentoff is a columnist who once wrote for the Village Voice. Many of his columns I have read made great sense to me. I intend to buy the book as soon as I can to gain further understanding of just what all we have lost and if there is anything one little guy like me can sensibly do about it.

The bit about 'arrogate' was in this sentence, "Mostly, Ashcroft and 'his champion George W. Bush,' have succeeded in their efforts to arrogate power."

She quotes, "Hentoff who quoted the then Assistant Attorney General Michael Chertoff -- now a federal appellate judge!-- justifying this lawlessness by saying, 'When we are talking about preventing acts of war against us, the judicial model just doesn't work.' In other words, these days, the Bill of Rights is just too inconvenient."

I have read many articles about what has been taken away from us, leaving our liberties sacrificed in ways I hope never sink us as things like that have sunk other countries. Of course, economically I think our country is almost down the tubes. They keep saying that things are on the 'upswing' while more and more jobs are lost in our country, wage concessions forced on working folk, including the 'white collar' people and jobs and work are being sent overseas and out of country more rapidly than ever before. So is this the way we shall vanish as a democracy ? I wonder. There are two schools of thought, one is that there are Two Schools Of Thought . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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