On December 6, 2001 I wrote a letter to the local paper that seems apropriate here:
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According to CNN, "Attorney General John Ashcroft lashed out Thursday at critics of the administration's response to terrorism, saying questions about whether its actions undermine the Constitution only serve to help terrorists."

But Senator Patrick Leahy had it right: "The need for congressional oversight is not -- as some mistakenly describe it -- to protect terrorists. It is to protect Americans and protect our American freedoms that you and everyone in this room cherish so much."

Back in 1940 I was attending Southside Grade School in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. I was in the fifth grade, and World War II was heating up in Europe. A lot of kids' fathers, like mine, had to register for the draft and we were worried -- and puzzled -- about the war. We wanted to know what anyone gets out of war; what good is it?

The teacher told us that unjust governments will use a war to increase control over their people; they can accuse anyone who disagrees with them of being unpatriotic, even traitorous, and in that way get them to obey.

Well, I was only nine years old, but I could understand that, and I never forgot it.

So. That knowledge was available in North Idaho sixty-one years ago, and in terms a nine-year old could understand.
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Sixty-three years ago now. Lot of people still find it difficult.

Clint Keller