May 30 is a sad day for America. For on this day the Justice Department sharply eased restrictions on domestic spying, handing the FBI broad, new authority to monitor Internet sites, libraries, churches, political organizations and various other things in an effort to apprehend terrorists.
As a result, the Joseph McCarthy era is back with a vengeance, but instead of a communist, there is now a terrorist under every bed.
Many of the hard-fought and hard-earned political reforms of the Watergate era have now been flushed down the toilet with a mere stroke of a pen, not even requiring a debate in Congress.
It is just a matter of time before there will be a wholesale destruction of our civil liberties, as this expansion of FBI powers leaves the door wide open to political abuse. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft has assured us these enhanced police powers will only be used to fight terrorists. But what exactly is a terrorist? Could it one day be construed as anyone who opposes the Bush administration?
