War Means Never Having to Tell the Truth
The Return of Censorship

Something is burning this week, but it's not the site of the former World Trade Center. It's what's left of the First Amendment—and every self-respecting journalist should sign up for the rescue mission. Of course, by the time the first war of the 21st century is over, there may not be much left of what liberals used to call free speech.

In its place has come a heinous kind of propaganda in which antiwar sentiment is dimmed and right-wing pundits denounce their counterparts on the left as madmen and enemies-from-within. According to the party line, the public must choose: Either give up your right to free speech or live in the terrorists' camp forevermore. And since the public is willing to make the sacrifice, goes the argument, the press should be, too. During wartime, you see, anyone who criticizes the government is a traitor, and any journalist with access to military intelligence a potential threat to national security.

Haste Could Lay Waste to Liberty
Slowing the Ashcroft Act

DEFINITION OF TERRORISM: The ATA expands the description of terrorism to encompass minor offenses, including attacks on property and a wide range of behaviors. Under the new law, a college student who breaks the window of a federal building during a political protest could wind up sentenced to life in prison. "Even kids carrying Boy Scout knives who vandalize traffic signs can be labeled terrorists," says Eric Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, a Washington nonprofit.

Coming: A National Wiretap Warrant
The War on the Bill of Rights

Sisk noted that New York is now the headquarters for the multi-agency Joint Terrorism Task Force. He quoted Justice Department spokeswoman Mindy Tucker as saying, as Sisk summarized it, that "U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, has been given extraordinary powers to proceed in secrecy against anyone implicated 'in the entire attack against the four airliners.' " (Emphasis added.)

What does "implicated" mean? Reasonable suspicion? Probable cause? And how will we know whether basic due process has been afforded those "implicated" when, as Sisk continued, the Justice Department says, "Search warrants and records will be sealed. Law enforcement also no longer will disclose when arrests are made or when material witnesses are taken into custody."

And we're supposed to be telling China how to reform its justice system, which functions in secrecy as it crunches human rights?

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