Byrd bill

I'm not always in agreement with the Senior Senator from West Virginia but I often enjoy his oratorial stylings. From a statement by Sen. Robert Byrd introducing a bill to "Investigate Secret Spying", the Old Man of the Senate says:

But the suggestion that the American people will be safer in their homes if they just forego their Constitutionally-protected rights, is a deliberately deceptive assertion, that may forge the fetters that bind law-abiding citizens. Make no mistake, it is these ill-conceived strictures that may ultimately destroy precious liberties.

In fact, it is because our forefathers were fearful of recreating the same tyrannous form of government from which many of them had fled, that the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to better secure, for all time, the freedom from oppression that ever looms from an overly powerful executive.

In a climate of fear, liberties have been sacrificed time and again under the guise of keeping the Nation from harm. Fear is a powerful tool for manipulation, useful for easing the American people out of their liberties and into submission. When the public is confronted with a situation, real or imagined, that inspires fear, they rightfully look to their leaders for protection from foreboding consequences. The claim of wartime necessity always strengthens a President. And often facts are sealed from the prying eyes of Congress by a purported need for secrecy.

But, Senators have a sworn duty to check executive power in times of crisis or otherwise. We are each bound to defend the Constitution, and the liberties it gives to all Americans, in times of peace and war. History has shown us many times that a climate of fear can take a hefty toll on our freedoms. Worse still, are liberties surrendered in vain, resulting in little added security.

There is no doubt that Constitutional freedoms will never be abolished in one fell swoop, for the American people cherish their freedoms, and would not tolerate such a loss if they could perceive it. But the erosion of freedom rarely comes as an all-out frontal assault, but rather as a gradual, noxious creeping, cloaked in secrecy, and glossed over by reassurances of greater security.