- Most Americans are willing to give up some freedom...if
it helps protect them from terrorists.
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- Several recent polls, including one in Greater Cincinnati,
show that three out of four people favor limiting civil liberties in exchange
for more security.
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- Even as they prepare to celebrate liberty and independence
today, most Americans seem unconcerned about new laws that give authorities
broader power to tap their phones, read their e-mails and monitor their
activities.
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- They are far more worried about personal safety, with
nearly 40 percent in a recent Gallup poll saying they fear becoming victims
of terrorism.
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- ìI put my trust in the government,î said
Kyle Schutte, of Mason. ìIn America, there are tons of liberties.
The importance should be on saving lives, rather than giving up a few liberties.î
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- A poll this week for WCPO-TV found wide support for that
point of view in Greater Cincinnati. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed
favor restricting civil liberties to protect the country.
-
- The poll, conducted by Survey-USA, has a margin of error
of plus or minus 4.5 percent.
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- A national Gallup poll in June mirrored those results,
finding that 78 percent were willing to give up some freedoms to gain security.
-
- The strong support seems rooted in the fear and patriotism
that swept the nation after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Several polls
have shown that worries about additional attacks have convinced a majority
of Americans they must sacrifice certain freedoms.
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- Some believe it would be unpatriotic to do otherwise.
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- Attorney General John Ashcroft has repeatedly invoked
patriotism in his defense of the USA Patriot Act and other government measures
that have expanded the powers of law enforcement.
-
- ìTo those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms
of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists,
for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve,î Mr.
Ashcroft said late last year.
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- ìThey give ammunition to America's enemies, and
pause to America's friends.î
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- Mr. Ashcroft's critics accuse him of using patriotism
as a hammer to crush opposition to the new security measures. But so far,
there hasn't been much opposition.
-
- The Freedom Forum, a First Amendment advocacy group,
has commissioned several polls since Sept. 11 that found widespread support
for limits on speech.
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- One poll showed that 50 percent of Americans think the
press enjoys too much freedom, and 68 percent think the media provides
too much information about the war on terrorism.
-
- Another poll showed that 39 percent favor government
restrictions on the public performance of comedy routines that might trivialize
the Sept. 11 attacks.
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- ìThis is an understandable but worrisome thing
to see happen,î said Paul McMasters, the First Amendment ombudsman
for the Freedom Forum. ìIf history is any guide, we will look back
and shake our heads that we were so quick to let go of some of our freedoms.î
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- Almost always, he said, the government and the American
public overreact in times of crisis.
-
- As early as the 1790s, just 15 years after the signing
of the Declaration of Independence, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition
Acts to clamp down on immigrants and anti-American speech.
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- The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 prompted the forced
internment of Japanese-Americans, and the Cold War led to the deportation
of hundreds of suspected communists
-
- Mr. Ashcroft and others resent such comparisons. They
say the new security measures are not knee-jerk reactions but common-sense
responses to a serious foreign threat.
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- ìI think the American people and the government
have responded with amazing restraint,î said Ed Bridgeman, a terrorism
expert and criminal justice professor at the University of Cincinnati.
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- ìI don't see any of the dire predictions of a
Big Brother, neo-fascist government coming true.î
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- Mr. Bridgeman said it makes sense for the government
to more closely monitor potential terrorists. Most of the changes, he said,
are designed to streamline the work of law enforcement, not to infringe
on anyone's rights.
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- Some Americans want the government to do even more.
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- ìI think they have a ways to go,î said Jamie
Edwards, of West Chester. ìSecurity needs to be tougher.î
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- Steve Eder of the Enquirer contributed to this report.
http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/07/04/loc_1many_are_w
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