FREEDOMS ARE UNDER ATTACK THIS JULY 4

Another Fourth of July is upon us. This, however, is a 4th like no other,
and a time like no other -- at least in my slightly more than half century
of experience. I will never feel again as I did before.

For me, it all started when the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the counting of
the votes of my fellow citizens be stopped. Before we knew what hit us,
Sept. 11 happened, and as tragic as that was, what has followed has been
even worse.

National security and the threat of terrorism have been used as a political
hammer to bludgeon the Constitution. There is more than enough blame to go
around -- from the cynical way the White House has issued terrorist
warnings at times that seem all too convenient for political cover; the
rush by the people of both parties in Congress to sacrifice my freedom; the
Supreme Court with the same predictable 5-4 vote saying jailing people in
secret is OK, or that the children of America are presumed to be guilty and
must prove their innocence with a drug test.

Generations of my family have sacrificed and fought for those freedoms, in
war and peace, only to have them given away by a gaggle of chicken hawks
now running the country.

David Garner

Dearborn