Sacred Cows

Every nation needs sacred cows. Especially a democracy. Every nation needs certain accepted values that serve as a starting point for cooperation and building/sustaining a communal identity.

We have ours. They've been systematically challenged for the last six years.

Habeas Corpus. The idea that one could challenge the legality of one's imprisonment. Imagine for a moment what it must have been like before the 12th Century, before the writ of habeas corpus was considered a necessary check on the arbitrary exercise of power. Now imagine the wretched life of a peasant in medieval Europe suffering through widespread disease, a short life span, abject poverty, and the feudal way of life and then realize that at least this peasant had the minimal protection of the writ of habeas corpus. Legislation passed before the election made this value conditional to the whims of the President. And making an exception as overly broad as that pretty much swallows the right.

The right to counsel. Enshrined in the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Gone. These Amendments are a recognition by our Founding Fathers, with a long common law history that predates our Constitution, that there is an inherent inequality between the State and the Individual which often demands the intercession of a third party advocate, with knowledge and expertise not shared by the Layman. The Administration has repeatedly barred access of its prisoners to their attorneys and has thus far resisted attempts to institute any judicial check on its discretion in this matter.

The right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant. Fourth Amendment. The NSA surveillance program, the Patriot Act, FBI and DIA surveillance of peace groups, access to library records, financial records, cell phone calls, travel records, Sneak and Peek searches. Most of this done without judicial oversight, approval, or knowledge. Most if it claimed under the right of the President's Commander in Chief powers. Some of it without congressional approval, some of it with, and some of it explicitly against congressional mandate. All of it done without the minimal necessary safeguards and openness to ensure some level of legality, if any. Even accepting for a moment, which I do not, that all this was somehow necessary to make us safe from terrorist activity, there's no way to verify that the scope of this surveillance and intelligence gathering effort is still related to the initial terrorism justification. It's frightening enough to think a federal agent can enter your home, search through your most personal effects, and report to the government on what he finds with impunity. It's downright terrifying to consider that all of this can go on and you'd be none the wiser.

Freedom of Speech and the right to peaceably assemble. We've all heard of free speech zones and we've all heard the stories of the President and Vice-President's publicly funded appearances where citizens wanting to question their leaders were arrested for "disturbing the peace." And now we hear Newt Gingrich saying that the answer to fighting terror may be in curbing certain kinds of speech.

The thing about sacred cows is that no matter what else comes up we are supposed to leave them intact. We do not do this because we are a slave to tradition. We do this because it's our defense against being a slave to fear. It's okay to debate their meaning, to debate how best to apply them in particular situations, and it's even okay to discuss why we have them.

Democracy is a complicated social experiment. There are a lot of moving parts. And we never could have gotten this far without these shared values. And we've paid a high price over the years for these values because there has always been a countervailing pressure appealing to our basest instincts. It's tough to build consensus. It's tough to wait for the country to follow you into the field when you know there's an important battle ahead. But if you do it right and the country is behind you, once you get there, there's almost no limit to what you can accomplish.

We've had leaders in the past who have lied and scared us into situations we weren't ready for or had no business being in. We've regretted it almost every time. I'm thinking of Iraq and Vietnam but this isn't just about war. How about the Red Scare nonsense? The countervailing pressures have gone too far once again. The base appeals to our greatest fears has led us down a road we will surely regret.

But this time the effects, with the aid of technology and national tragedy, are far worse than what we've faced before, the changes far more deeply embedded into the foundational pillars of our country. Now the sacred cows are being mortally wounded and, I fear, gangrene is starting to set in. And it won't be long, I'm afraid, before the average Joe and Jane start to feel it creeping up the back of their necks.

To whom will they turn to save them? Not the dead elephants, one would hope.