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June 30, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 3, 2004 Our View SAFE Act's bipartisan support speaks volumes When the American Civil Liberties Union is putting its collective influence behind a Republican-led initiative to thwart the power of the president and his men, you know things at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. have gotten pretty out of hand. Republican senators Larry Craig, Michael Crapo (both from Idaho) and John Sununu, N.H., are co-sponsoring the SAFE Act that has begun to make its way though the long journey of red tape on Capitol Hill. Joining the GOP sponsors are the more usual cast of characters: Arlen Specter, D-Penn., Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and presidential hopeful John Kerry. The ACLU is, of course, tickled. Well, maybe tickled is too frivolous a word considering the growing hostility over abuses to civil liberties, done in the name of freedom and made legal by the Patriot Act. That's what the SAFE Act seeks to correct, by repealing language shoved through on the Patriot Act. David Fidanque, executive director of ACLU Oregon, says the current efforts are geared toward "reaching across the political spectrum" for support of the SAFE Act. That many, many Americans from all political sides are wary of this administration's determination to usurp control and information of the private lives of citizens, is apparent. What's less apparent is that many are starting to believe the information-gathering techniques - many of which lack judicial oversight and infringe on basic rights of due process - are not helping the cause of fighting terrorists and defending Americans on American soil. The government simply can't properly process the mounds of information they are acquiring and may be even less effective at using that information to actually catch terrorists. Most disturbing is the constant attack on the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the very cornerstones of America. This is an administration that wants to trivialize the constitution by writing amendments about same-sex marriages. This is an administration that ignores the basic freedoms, and checks and balances, interwoven into everything that America stands for. This is an administration that jails people without proper legal process under the guise of war, and sentences them indefinitely without meeting the burden of proving guilt. If they can do it to people in Guantanamo Bay, and they can take imprison a Portland man on false charges, and they can chase off an Ashland man known for his good works, they certainly pose a threat to every American deemed a threat, by whatever spurious definition they create. Repealing the Patriot Act, and passing acts that defend basic rights, is a bipartisan issue that deserves our enthusiastic support. On this one, the ACLU is leading a noble charge. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams