English rhetoric: history, theory, and practice

¶ … Free is the Individual Will within Society?

When the Founding Fathers created the Constitution of the United States, and shortly thereafter the Bill of Rights, they did so with the intention of putting into place a government that would work for the people. Among the tools they felt were of great importance were the Amendments that would permit the people to govern the government that was presumably working for them. (Rossiter.) Those articles guaranteed, among other rights, the individual's right to a free press, freedom of speech, and the right to privacy. All of these were meant to encourage an individual to remain just that. Freedom of press and speech were held to be vehicles through which the public could express its opinions of the government. (Douglas.)

In the wake of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, however, the government has been banishing rather than protecting those rights that were originally granted to U.S. citizens. A government that is ignoring its own Constitution is no longer protecting the will of the individual. According to Gerald Johnson, author of "The American Presidency," the Founding Fathers "would be astounded if they knew the changes that have occurred." (Johnson.)

While many individuals currently have some objection to the "war" which was declared by the President rather than by Congress as the Founding Fathers would have intended, it is no longer safe for an individual to voice those objections. In a bizarre irony that is still unfolding, those who are exercising their rights as Americans are now being called "un-American" by simply exercising their rights. Privacy is being violated by government agents who have created for themselves the right to investigate anything it considers to be an "un-American" activity, or "un-American" materials. The "un-American" activities include merely possessing books or artwork that contain anti-war sentiments, or hanging posters on the walls of one's living room that are not in support of the activities of George W. Bush.

At 5 P.M., October 26, 2001, a.J. Brown, a freshman at Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina, responded to an unexpected knock at her door. Two visitors were present. After flashing their identifications, Brown learned that the visitors were Secret Service agents from the Raleigh branch of the federal government. They stated, "We're here because we have a report that you have 'un-American' material in your apartment."

No, I don't have anything like that," she replied.

Are you sure?" they responded, "Because we got a report that you've got a poster that's anti-American." Brown replied that she had nothing anti-American, which was the truth because all of the posters in her apartment simply reflected her individual American opinions. The poster they were in search of was in protest of the 152 people put to death while George W. Bush was governor of Texas. (Rothschild.)

According to the same source in the Progressive, which has been a respected voice for democracy, peace, social justice, civil rights, civil liberties, and environmental awareness since 1909, about ten days later the Art Car Museum in Houston was also visited by federal agents searching for "un-American" artwork. The artwork included anti-war statements commissioned prior to September 11. (Rothschild.) Numerous other instances have been reported by people who have been interrogated by agents simply because they have criticized the government, President Bush, or his "war" on terrorism.

All of this speaks to the new McCarthyism, where political dissent is being equaled to treason," stated Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington. He finds the anecdotal evidence deeply troubling. "It's a very frightening trend: that people are doing nothing more than expressing the very freedoms that we are fighting to preserve - and find themselves with the FBI at their door." (Steinhardt.)

Other reports of the new "un-American" activity of voicing an opinion that does not support the Bush Administration's activities have resulted in professional writers, including Pulitzer prizewinning cartoonist, Steve Benson, losing their jobs. This, in effect, takes away the individual's right to a free press because the presses, owned and controlled by large conglomerates, are now filtering the news that is being reported to the public. In presenting only one side of the controversy, they are not permitting the democratic tool of public opinion to be put into proper use.

In a Bill that he signed into law during the last week of October 2001, Bush further eroded the individual's rights to their own will, freedom and privacy when he gave the government the right to confiscate the records of all booksellers. (ABFFE.) the purpose behind this move was to allow the government the ability to monitor the books and other reading materials that readers wish to read. The bill further removes the rights of the individual to even protest the government's heavy-handedness. "There is no opportunity for you or your lawyer to object in court. You cannot object publicly, either. The new law includes a gag order that prevents you from disclosing 'to any person' the fact that you have received an order to produce documents." (Rothschild.)