The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance

by Nat Hentoff

Book Overview

"The Constitution," said Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia ominously in March 2003, "just sets minimums. Most of the rights that you enjoy go way beyond what the Constitution requires." In The War... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583226214
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.6" x 0.7" x 5.7"

Customer Reviews

A MUST FOR REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRAT/INDEPENDENT!!!!!!

I hate writing reviews, but here's one for this book. I picked it up over holidays and read it in a few days. The book summarizes various violations to the Bill of Rights focusing on 1st and 4th amendments. It asks the so called "unpatriotic" questions, and thus exposing many things that are overlooked by mainstream media and consequently majority of Americans.Hentoff might as well send his book to all of the senators save Russ Feingold who was the only one to dissent on USA PATRIOT Act pushed so hastily by the Justice Department a month after 9/11.I don't care who you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent; you should always ask questions! Don't let anybody tell you that questioning your commander in chief is unpatriotic! America was born out of dissent. America should always question their leaders' decisions; that is what makes this country so great-the ability to do so.Read this book and after do not just put it down, but make your phone call, email your senators/representatives and let them know: YOU WANT YOUR RIGHTS BACK!

Exposing Bush's war on the Constitution

This is a chilling record of the government assault on basic American civil liberties by a cowardly Bush administration that is increasingly relying on a climate of fear to hold onto power. Net Hentoff, of course, is an immediately suspect writer. He has an impeccable record of defending, explaining, respecting and advocating civil rights. He is one of those precious few in every society with the courage to challenge the power of government to boss people around. He functions at the level of you, me and us. Some politicians have a different outlook; they think they deal in great national and global issues on which the future of all mankind hinges. They are wrong, of course. It's not because they are evil, though some are certainly evil. It's because the nature of representative democracy requires politicians to represent all of the people. Like any "averaging" system, it excludes anyone who is not in the white bread and vanilla pudding "middle" of society. In a free society, individuals are free to choose such exotic ideas as Thai red-curry chicken or a sunny Provencal daube. The US Constitution and its Bill of Rights wasn't handed down to us by ancient wise politicians; it is a set of values of the American people. Personally, I have great faith in the individual wisdom of Americans. Even if everything Hentoff says comes true, I'm confident a new "American Revolution" will root out such tyranny. Hentoff is not so sanguine, he stresses the "grass roots of the Constitution" and urges freedom loving Americans to act now. Ashcroft needs to be reminded his sworn duty is to uphold the Constitution, not to cave into the fears of the chicken-hawks in the Bush administration. Normally, civil rights is a liberal issue. But not this time. Hentoff repeatedly quotes the leading conservatives in Congress, plus right-wing papers such as The Washington Times. A lot of people across the politiocal spectrum are genuinely upset about the threat to our basic rights. It is an issue that concerns all those interested in individual freedom, and his book draws from an eclectic range of sources. Okay, so Attorney General John Ashcroft says his trashing of civil rights is necessary to fight terrorism. Under the new laws, Hentoff points out that a person who stands peacefully outside an abortion clinic to urge women not to have an abortion could technically be charged as a terrorist and lose all of their civil and legal rights. Will this happen? Well, it's not likely (cross-your-fingers) under Ashcroft -- but he (hopefully) isn't Attorney General-for-life. Far-fetched? Well, remember the 1930s when mobsters weren't convicted of being killers? Convictions were based on income tax charges. Remember the Mississippi murders of civil rights workers in the 1960s? Their murderers were not convicted of murder; they were nailed for violating the civil rights of the victims. The lesson is that if the government wants to convict a person, they will find

important warning for americans

I never knew most of the things this book uncovers --I think neither did most of the members of congress who voted for the Patriot Act. It is disturbing to find how close to losing our fundamental constitutional rights we can come without realizing it. A wake-up call here.

A succinct handbook for patriots

Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Why is it the time? Because our basic constitutional rights are under the most vigorous full frontal assault since the Civil War, and possibly of our whole history.Previous assaults have all taken place in time of war. But always in time of a real war, that is to say, military actions undertaken against identifiable enemy states, ending in clear victory or withdrawal. The "war on terror" is a struggle against a permanent class of shadowy enemies. Al Qaeda is a serious threat, but while there may not always be an Al Qaeda, there will always be terrorists. Any freedom we relinquish only for the duration of the "war" on terror will be a freedom we lose forever.Hentoff wastes no words. He doesn't rant, preferring to quote the sober judgments of the Supreme Court and the Founding Fathers. He gives us a quick but reasonably thorough overview of the many blows Ashcroft's Justice Department has rained on the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, and the principle of an open government accountable to the people. He provides the dates and notable contents of the bills, the executive orders, and the arrogations of power, usually sufficiently sourced to follow the dots in Google to the full texts. He brings the story right up to date (including the Justice Department's own stinging inspector general's report from June of 2003).And though the crisis is urgent, Hentoff offers a lot of hope. Because, as he also documents, Americans from the grass roots to Congress, of all political persuasions, have started waking up to the danger and taking action.Don't be confused by the one-star reviews. This is in no sense a partisan book, except to the extent that Franklin, Adams and Jefferson were partisans of liberty. Ashcroft is thoroughly bashed, but Bush hardly comes in for a mention. There are as many Republican heroes credited here - Dick Armey, Charles Grassley, Bob Barr, even Grover Norquist - as there are Democratic ones. The Bill of Rights, after all, is the common glory of every American. Ashcroft's claim, for example, (sustained by the fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on December 8, 2002) that any President and any Attorney General have the right, on their sole say-so, to imprison any American citizen indefinitely without charges or legal representation, is a declaration of war on the spirit of America, and of everyone who values freedom. That's Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Libertarians, and independents alike.It's short. It's alarmed because the times are alarming, but it's measured in tone. It's packed with information you *should* have been reading in your paper. Do yourself and your country a favor, and read it.

Those who give up freedom to have security deserve neither!

The point of the book is to assess the current state of civil liberties in America in light of legislation enacted and attempted by Bush-Ashcroft. In Hentoff's typically tight yet thorough journalistic style he documents the case that indeed, American's 4th Amendment (regarding unreasonable search and seizure) and 5th Amendment (regarding due process of law for suspects) rights have been and are being egregiously violated. Furthermore, these violations are hastily being codified into law. He commends Republicans and rebuffs Democrats (and vice-versa, when appropriate) for standing up for the Constitution, so he is not simply acting as a shill for the Left, as some might be inclined to assume. The question that should plague the reader after finishing the book is this: if in our war on terror we destroy the values which make America what it is (e.g. Bill of Rights) are we not then losing the war? And what way of life are we trying to preserve by the war, if we compromise our defining document - the Constitution