- Hardcover: 160 pages
- Publisher: Seven Stories Press; 1 edition (Sep 2 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1583226214
- ISBN-13: 978-1583226216
- Product Dimensions: 14.5 x 1.8 x 21.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 313 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #2,266,630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
This is obviously a "quickie" book--digressive, reiterative, and poorly organized, as if it had been cut and pasted on the fly--and yet it should be read by anybody who still cares about American civil liberties. The message is a solemn one: Hentoff argues that George W. Bush and his administration--especially Attorney General John Ashcroft--have used the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as a pretext for curtailing the privileges that have long been taken for granted in the United States, most notoriously with the so-called "Patriot Act." Hentoff's tone will not be to everybody's taste: he is unremittingly shrill and preachy--imagine Lenny Bruce without a sense of humor--but the barrage of evidence he has assembled is both persuasive and bi-partisan (he notes, for example, that conservative House Majority Leader Dick Armey and Republican Congressman Bob Barr have warned of a gradual erosion of constitutional rights). He quotes with approval The Washington Post's political columnist Richard Cohen on Ashcroft ("The attorney general is far more dangerous than any of the immigrants he wrongly detained"), defends the statement, and then goes on to suggest manners and methods for true patriots to take our country back. --Tim Page
From Publishers Weekly
Hentoff, a veteran defender of civil liberties, elaborates on the legal "steamroller" unleashed after September 11 that he contends is diminishing our civil rights. Thanks to the USA Patriot Act, Hentoff reports, the FBI has authority to enter your apartment without serving a warrant first, take "evidence," copy computer files and even install software that will record your every keystroke for government perusal. All of this is done in the name of fighting terrorism, but, Hentoff relates, the government no longer requires hard evidence of terrorist ties, and actions as simple as attending a protest rally or donating to a charitable organization are now enough to arouse the interest of federal spies. This concise expos‚/manifesto, the latest salvo in Hentoff's lifelong defense of constitutional liberties, concerns developments he's covered for the Village Voice and other publications, but draws them together into a blistering attack on the administration, and on Attorney General John Ashcroft in particular, who Hentoff says has "subverted more elements of the Bill of Rights than any attorney general in American history." He berates Congress for its "supine" acquiescence to the Patriot Act, and the media for slack coverage of these issues. and raises the specter of J. Edgar Hoover's goon squads. Anyone concerned with civil liberties should read this short and snappy report from the frontlines of this latest constitutional struggle.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Repetitive, unorganized, unthoughtful,
By
This review is from: The War on the Bill of Rights--and the Gathering Resistance (Hardcover)
I usually do not write reviews but I needed to share my thoughts on this book. First off I bought it because I'm very interested in this topic and have enjoyed similar books in the past, however this book was not that good.The book just does not have enough information to be a book!!! The author, while he is respected (in some circles) he just seems to repeat himself over and over again in order to fill the pages! It is so unorganized that it's got 35 chapters in 160 pages!!! Did you hear that, that's about 4 pages a chapter, and that gets so annoying because nothing is tied together, just repeated in the next chapter. The information is also just terrible, it's message board info, not material for a book, let me explain: most of the text is actual clips and quotes from other news sources like the New York Times! It just ends up being a book of other people's ideas about this. Not much originality at all. I did give it 2 stars because this is an important topic and I'm glad Hentoff is writing about it but it was just too forced and felt like he wrote it fast and didn't read the final copy!
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST FOR REPUBLICAN/DEMOCRAT/INDEPENDENT!!!!!!,
This review is from: The War on the Bill of Rights--and the Gathering Resistance (Hardcover)
I hate writing reviews, but here's one for this book. I picked it up over holidays and read it in a few days. The book summarizes various violations to the Bill of Rights focusing on 1st and 4th amendments. It asks the so called "unpatriotic" questions, and thus exposing many things that are overlooked by mainstream media and consequently majority of Americans.Hentoff might as well send his book to all of the senators save Russ Feingold who was the only one to dissent on USA PATRIOT Act pushed so hastily by the Justice Department a month after 9/11. I don't care who you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an independent; you should always ask questions! Don't let anybody tell you that questioning your commander in chief is unpatriotic! America was born out of dissent. America should always question their leaders' decisions; that is what makes this country so great-the ability to do so. Read this book and after do not just put it down, but make your phone call, email your senators/representatives and let them know: YOU WANT YOUR RIGHTS BACK!
4.0 out of 5 stars
An essential work for today's times,
By D. Smithee "Universal Daddy" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The War on the Bill of Rights--and the Gathering Resistance (Hardcover)
This work is not nearly as disorganized as the Amazon.com review would suggest, but would have gotten five stars if an editor had tightened it up a bit.Nat Hentoff offers a succinct and revealing view of the 2001 "Patriot Act" the Bush II administration rushed through congress. In many cases the provisions of this law come in direct conflict with several of the first ten amendments and give our government, specifically the executive branch, frighteningly broad powers over the citizenry it is supposed to serve. Particulary scary is the President's new power to hold people indefinately without charging them, without access to attorneys and without the knowledge of anyone, including their family. The comparisons to Abraham Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeous corpus during the Civil War are inevitable. However, the strugle to hold our country together had a distinct end, which is something the current administration's war on terror lacks. The executive branch may hold this power forever. Mr. Hentoff extends his analysis to "Patriot Act II" which has not yet been passed, but could grant this power against U.S. citizens. He examines other portions of the bills which allow the siezure of property merely on suspicion, rather than reasonable evidence and the installation of the "magic lantern" into peoples' computers, allowing government agencies to track all activity without their knowledge. Your records from public libraries and booksellers may be seized and examined not only without your knowledge, but the acts make it illegal for these organizations to tell you the records have been accessed. The U.S. government is slowly removing many of the protections that make the United States unique and free. As quoted from the third season of The Simpsons, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." This book arms you with the knowlege to help protect your freedoms. It is a quick and gripping read.
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