Headline: ON THIS 4TH OF JULY, CELEBRATE, PROTECT OUR NATION'S FREEDOMS
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed: Thur., July 4, 2002
Section: METRO, Page: B1, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

Independence Day 2002.

While we barbecue today, enjoy fireworks, or spend time with friends and loved ones, it's probably also a good time to think about what we've got. We live in a nation that offers us freedoms that we would not have if we lived most anywhere else. And though those freedoms have been harder to come by for some than for others, they are an ideal for which we collectively strive.
   
We argue forcefully in this country. We protest. We carry signs and debate with one another until we're exhausted.
   
But we have the right to speak out, and no one is going to arrest us for it. We know that unless we're violent, we can protest.
   
All of those rights weren't always guaranteed to all Americans -- women and blacks, for instance. But those rights are promised to everyone these days.

It's important to realize, however, that not long ago our government -- which was sworn to uphold the laws, including the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- trampled on those documents instead.
   
We shouldn't forget, for instance, that J. Edgar Hoover abused his power as the head of the FBI for years, choosing to use the office to intimidate the powerful and average citizens alike.
   
From 1956 to 1971, Hoover operated Cointelpro, a counterintelligence program that was shut down because of significant abuses of the First and Fourth amendments. Hoover's FBI infiltrated, monitored and targeted lawful organizations and their members. Hoover conducted secret wars against those citizens he considered threats, or whom he wanted to intimidate. Individuals whom most Americans consider heroes today -- the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., for instance -- were targets of Hoover's intimidation efforts.

Today, because of potential terrorist attacks, some Americans are willing to forgo the freedoms that our founding fathers established for us.
  
If U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft gets his way, you no longer will have to break the law to warrant an investigation by the feds. Ashcroft has released new surveillance guidelines that remove the protections against excesses by the FBI that were put in place years ago. The new guidelines make it easier for the FBI to snoop on people in churches, mosques, libraries, political groups, or Internet chat rooms, without even a hint of criminal or terrorist activity.
  
Ashcroft is telling Americans, in so many words: We're from the government. Trust us.

This shouldn't be a partisan issue. The protections against FBI intrusions were written under President Gerald Ford, a Republican.

As some seek to reign in our freedoms, it's important for us to realize that some of these changes could have a significant impact on our free exercise of religion and freedom of assembly, along with our right to express our political beliefs.
  
And though some Americans may consider such encroachments OK under the current administration and circumstances, it's important to remember that they could continue for generations.
   We should be able to have security without throwing away the Bill of Rights.

So as we're basting that first rib today, having good times with friends and relatives, or enjoying the fireworks display at the riverfront, let's take just a moment to remember what this holiday is about: a celebration of our freedoms and our independence. It's what makes the United States special. It's why very few of us would actually renounce our citizenship and live elsewhere. It's why so many long to immigrate here, and why many consider this to be the greatest nation in the world.
  
We're far from perfect. But there is much that is good about our country.
   Keeping that in mind, we should always resolve to maintain our liberties, and do what we can to prevent others from taking them from us, no matter what reason.
  
The Founding Fathers would have expected nothing less.


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