How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok

How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok | Glenn Greenwald | Concise and non-partisan exploration of Bush's power grab

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How Would a Patrio...

	How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok Glenn Greenwald Working Assets Publishing, 2006 - 146 pages average customer review:based on 57 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An important work...

A particuarly eloquent case against this administration's assault on the Constitution. Republican, Democrat or Independent - every American should read this book and join in the public discussion.

Concise and non-partisan exploration of Bush's power grab

I was pleased to see a non-partisan, yet well-researched book that explores some of the scary anti-constitutional moves by the Bush administration in just enough depth.
It's a short book, but pithy in that it gives sufficient background to understand some of the constitutional issues underpinning his arguments.
I think that every citizen could profit from reading this book to better understand how we as a sleeping citizenry and Congress as fearful sheep have allowed our democracy to be substantially weakened if not endangered by an administration that is radical in its concept of presidential power.

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How would a Patriot Act? He would obey the Commander in Chief.

How would a Patriot Act? He would obey the Commander in Chief.

If I was a "journalist" on the White House payroll, I would say "this book is full of trivial complaints and nit-picking about how the Administration is fighting the "Long War" on Terrorism, and how it should and should not be fighting this long, albeit undeclared, war which has so far claimed about 5500 American lives, if you count the 3000 people killed in the Sept 11 attacks, and the 2500 American lives lost in Iraq. That's one in five hundred thousand!

Greenwald also complains that the Administration has suspended various Amendments to the Constitution, amendments concerning due process, amendments which derive from the Magna Carta, more baggage from `Old Europe.' Back in the 1215, King John of England agreed that the will of the King could be bound by law, and that he could not imprison a subject without cause, that he must inform the captive of the charges against him, that the captive would be entitled to defense in a court of law, and would be entitled to confer with his defense counsel. Greenwald complains that this Administration has concocted "Extremist" ideas on the power of the presidency; ideas that suggest that our "Commander in Chief" is not bound by the Constitution or Constitutional checks and balances.

Greenwald quotes Patrick Henry's quaint assertion "Give me liberty or give me death." Then he contrasts this with Senators Cornyn (R-Texas) and Roberts (R-Kansas) who ask "What good is civil rights when you're dead?" Times are different. And we're at war!

Conservative Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, House Manager of the Clinton impeachment proceedings, is quoted suggesting that domestic spying "is bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens... without court oversight ... apparently in voilation of federal laws against doing it without a court order. ... the fact of the matter is that the Constitution is the Constitution, and I took an oath to abide by it ... and the president did... if you have any government official who deliberately orders that federal law be violated despite the best of motives, that certainly ought to be of concern to us." But doesn't Barr know that there is a war on?

If I were a "journalist" on the White House payroll I would conclude that "the book is nonsense." As an independent thinking citizen, I'd say the book is an assay on the abuse of power and a primer on the foundations of Constitutional Law. And if you're going to buy it - as long as the Administration and the NSA ignores the FISA law - you might want to pay cash.

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The case for the prosecution

When I started this book, I wondered, "What's the point of beating up on the Bush administration at this stage in the game? The man only has another 2 years in office." But as I continued reading, I appreciated what author Glenn Greenwald had done. He had put together the basic brief describing the way the Bush administration has attempted to rewrite the Constitution, placing almost all federal power in the hands of the Executive branch.

Greenwald's case spans many events that would have been considered scandals in the previous administration. Curiously, today they are tolerated and even lauded by many lawmakers and citizens. US citizens have been declared "enemy combatents" by executive order. The NSA has been busy skirting very government-friendly statutes in order to spy on American citizens. Bush has penned obver 750 "signing statements" that give him the authority (in his eyes) to flout the very laws he is signing. Greenwald lays out -- in language accessible to non-lawyers -- both the fact of these transgressions and the way they violate basic American principles. Greenwald even marshalls testimony from very conservative Americans -- including former representative Robert Barr and Justice Antonin Scalia -- to demonstrate that regardless of ideology, the Bush Administartion is performing acts that go against the very structure of American law.

Greenwald eloquently contrasts the words of our founders as they faced off against a tyrant named George against the current situtation with another man named George. He excerpts the Constitution and the Federalist Papers to illuminate the state of mind of our founders. He makes it clear that these men, who had risked life and property to fight the British Empire, were well acquainted with tyranny and deliberately crafted a government that split up the power of the monarchy. That a 21st century president is attempting to undo the work of the founders -- in order to "protect Americans" is simply extraordinary. Greenwald also offers an explanation of the way Bush's radical cabal keeps power: through fear. The constant din of "9/11" runs through many of his speeches. Without keeping the populace in terror, and without a rather accomodating opposition party, it's doubtful that Bush would still be in office.

The book is no liberal polemic. It is a reasoned argument from a constitutional lawyer who sees his country being taken over by anti-constitutional radicals. Greenwald offers no solution except that the citizenry hold elected leaders accountable for their actions. I found this lack to be a flaw. But any honest citizen reading Greenwald book should hear an inner alarm that sounds the true threat to our democracy. That threat comes not from ill-equipped and disorganized terror groups who strike convenient targets once every few years. It is that citizens would gladly give up their security in exchange for a tenuous freedom offered by Bush and those like him.

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Thoughtful and thought provoking

Greenwald's book is unique in the current frenzy of politicized and polemical volumes advocating or attacking one position or another. While pointedly opposing the war for unlimited executive power, this is not a book that spends 1,000 pages itemizing issues.

"How Would A Patriot Act?" is 21st century kin to the tracts of the Revolutionary Era. A slim volume that emphasizes political philosophy and political reality rather than getting mired down in too many specifics.

Ideally, this could be a conversation-starter, the jumping-off point for debates about the Constitution, separation of powers and a number of other issues. And in the current environment of "I'll believe whatever I want and to heck with the facts" where accusations trump meaningful discussion, this book is a wonderful and welcome change of pace.

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