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 impact on each individual citizen of this country can be measured in the loss of the democratic right to express an opinion, and it is perhaps this loss that is the most frightening and threatening to this country. A democracy cannot exist unless it provides and protects the basic freedoms of its citizens. To allow the government to continue unchecked on its present course could result in the ultimate loss in this country due to the September 11 attacks: the loss of our democracy.
Works Cited

ABFFE alerts booksellers to concerns re new antiterrorism law. American Booksellers

Association. Nov. 1, 2001. 2/21/02 http://www.bookweb.org/news/btw/5175.html

Douglas, William O. Amendments to the United States Constitution. The World Book Encyclopedia. 1969. Vol. 19 (141-145.)

Johnson, Gerald. "The American Presidency." Grolier's Encyclopedia. 2000. 2/21/02. http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/nbk/side/pofus.html

Rossiter, Clinton. The United States Constitution. The World Book Encyclopedia. 1969.

Vol. 19. (126-130.)

Rothschild, Matthew. The Progressive. "The New McCarthyism." Undated. 2/21/02 http://www.progressive.org/0901/roth0102.html

Steinhardt, Barry. Political dissent can bring federal agents to the door. The Christian Science Monitor. January 8, 2002. 2/21/02

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0108/p1s4?usju.html>