The American Spectator

Reader Mail

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I consider myself a hardcore civil libertarian, but I do not believe that WWII established a floor on civil liberties that cannot be breached no matter how different and dangerous the post-911 environment. Surely our Constitution can accommodate a brief period of preventive detention for suspected terrorists like Jose Padilla, who might well have murdered tens of thousands of innocent Americans. I am not suggesting that the treatment accorded Padilla was proper -- indeed, I have written elsewhere that his treatment was unconscionable and unconstitutional. But I am suggesting that Congress might have enacted a set of rules that would have permitted a few weeks of preventive detention without trampling on the Bill of Rights.

p> DONE IN br> Re: Ralph R. Reiland's What To Do? What To Do? : /p>

That final paragraph in Mr. Reiland's "What To Do" column probably explained my feelings better than 'most anything I'd read, 'til now.

I had been lamenting, tongue-in-cheek, "where's Ross Perot when we need him?" and still will probably vote for Mike Badnarik.

p>Terrific analysis! br> -- Geoff Brandt br> Quintana, Texas /p> p> Ralph Reiland's bit of humor on the inadequacies of democracy would be better offered in times when American men and women were not in the front lines -- in harm's way -- being wounded and killed. There are times when democracies must defend against inanities at home, and vicious attacks from abroad.

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