Doc Kinne.

We are at the most dangerous times our country has seen in the last century. The "Patriot" Act, rammed through Congress by Mr. Bush's administration, is the worst piece of legislation the American people have suffered through since the Red Scare of the '50s.

Now, in the third week of February, a document was leaked out of the Justice Department telling us about the "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003." This has turned out to be a draft of new anti-terrorism legislation with even more problematic issues than the original "Patriot" Act.

The basic message is clear: The Bush administration is the most dangerous political group to emerge on the American political landscape in decades. They are, indeed, more dangerous than the terrorists we are fighting because, while honestly believing they are doing good, they are fighting, and winning, the terrorists' battle for them.

When you come right down to it, however uncomfortable the idea, German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin had a point when she compared Bush to Hitler. The problem with that statement is not its authenticity, but the fact that we have been taught to believe that Hitler and the Nazi party were a bunch of gibbering monsters out of comic books or movies. They weren't. Most of them were people who honestly believed what they were doing was for the good of their people. They were wrong. In the same way, Bush and his administration are also wrong.

Bush's administration seeks to make us safe, but the only way they've offered to make us safe has been to curtail our essential liberties. A misguided letter writer in the Ithaca Times on February 12th wrote that our liberties had been curtailed like this in the past, during World War II, in order to make sure we won that war. While he was correct, as we now admit, what was done in WWII was no more right then than if it were done now. Mr. Fletcher advocated the position that a temporary abrogation of liberties is a fair price to pay for winning a war. This is a view I'm actually prepared to accept.

But it is a false view in our current situation. We are not at "war" with the terrorists. Such a statement has a meaning only in propoganda. This "war" against terrorism is exactly like the "war" on drugs and the "war" on poverty in that it is not a war at all, but a significant, and likely permanent, change in governmental policy. There will be no temporary abrogation of liberties. It'll be permanent, folks. And, as troublesome, should the "war" on terrorism follow the same road as the "war" on drugs, and the "war" against poverty, it will prove to be a complete and utter failure.

Bush and his administration seem to view the choices we have as safety or liberty. While I disagree with such a binary choice, should that be the choice given me, I will choose liberty every time. Does that make the job of the cops, NSA, FBI, CIA, etc. harder? Yep. But that's what we pay them for. I will not trade my liberty for their convenience. If we trade our liberties for our safety, what will be the point of being safe?

Only one thing will save this country from moving deeper into the hole we've dug for ourselves. We must admit the horrible mistake we made two years ago and do everything we can to remove Bush, his administration, and the people -- be they Republicans or Democrats -- who support them. In the meantime we must fight with all of our strength any attempts at legislation such as this new "Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003" piece. More can be found out about this dangerous Act at http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/lewis.html. I urge everyone to read it.

I further urge everyone reading this to join the ACLU at http://www.aclu.org as a first step in making sure the United States doesn't follow the path that Germany did in the 1930s! Idle talk, you say? No, I think not.

It is worth noting that the Nazi party came into power in Germany in a completely legal way. Legally, the nightmare started in Germany less than 100 years ago. Today, I have a co-worker in her seventies who lived through the Nazi era as a child, and is having feeling of deja vu. It can happen here so easily if we are not careful.

Interestingly, the Bush administration is right about one thing: America is in a fight for its very survival. Join the fight! Getting rid of Mr. Bush and his administration will be the most important political act you have ever done.