As a follow-up, consider the following from Steve McGeady, speaking at the Portland Peace Rally:

>Do not believe those who say that this Nation is no longer at war. Let no
>one tell you that the War is over. Whether or not a battle has been won
>or a military action completed, even when our troops are brought home, let
>there be no doubt that we are engaged in a War for the most basic freedoms
>and ideals that we cherish as a Nation.
>
>The perpetrators of this War are not hiding in deserts far away. The
>perpetrators of this War are in plain sight, at the highest levels of our
>government. John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, and George Bush are waging a War
>on every American's rights and freedoms. John Ashcroft, Dick Cheney, and
>George Bush want to strip you of your rights of speech, assembly, and due
>process of law.
>
>My friend Mike Hawash is a prisoner in this war. Over 3 weeks ago, my
>friend Mike Hawash was taken away by two dozen black-clad federal
>agents. He is being held in solitary confinement in Federal Prison
>despite the fact that he is charged with no crime. For three weeks my
>friend Mike Hawash has woken up in a 6x9 foot prison cell, not knowing why
>he is there, separated from his terrified wife and children. And for
>three weeks the Justice Department has refused to say why he is in Federal
>Prison.
>
>For three weeks Mike Hawash has been the victim of a new kind of secret
>imprisonment designed to frighten and coerce the Arab-American community,
>and to frighten and coerce all of us. And if John Ashcroft can secretly
>imprison my friend -- a University of Texas graduate, a U.S. citizen for
>15 years, a 20-year U.S. resident, a husband and father of three -- then
>Ashcroft can imprison any one of us.
>
>Because after they round up the Arab-Americans, who will they come for
>next? They will come for you and me!
>
>If they can hold Mike Hawash in jail without charge or trial, if they can
>deprive him of his most basic rights and freedoms, then any one of us may
>be the next prisoners in John Ashcroft's war on our Constitution.
>
>Consider the government's attempts to make this protest illegal. Consider
>the government's attempts to silence our voices. They call us
>un-American. They call us un-patriotic. But Thomas Jefferson said that
>"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
>
>It is you who are the patriots. It is our voices that can shout down John
>Ashcroft's secret justice. It is you whose voices and whose protests can
>free men like Mike Hawash. Mike Hawash must spend another two weeks or
>more in prison. But I ask every one of you, I ask everyone who cares
>about the freedoms on which this country was founded to join Mike's
>friends on the steps of the U.S. Courthouse on April 29.
>
>I ask each of you to tell John Ashcroft and George Bush that we will not
>stand for their assault on our liberties.
>
>Join us on April 29 to tell John Ashcroft and George Bush to stop their
>War on America, and Free Mike Hawash.

A