In the aftermath of September 11th, there have been a lot of changes. President W. Bush created a position for Secretary of Homeland Security, and has taken some measures to take control of the situation.

I, like the whole world, am concerned about stopping further attacks and about finding the people who perpetrated the original attack.

but I am also nervous about what “Homeland Security” means. What freedoms will I have to sacrifice?

There are a lot of people who feel that W. Bush has gone too far. Some prominent activists and intellectuals got together to make a statement about it.

They call it “Not in Our Name.”

I respect many of the people who have signed this document; people such as Gloria Steinem, Edward Said and others have done things that I admire. I would be inclined to listen carefully to what they have to say.

HOWEVER!

This document is filled with unsubstantiated claims and does not point to any action to resolve the problems.

Why would this group not be careful to substantiate claims about the abuses of authority in America? If it is a true accusation, it should be incredibly simple to include hard facts about one or two cases, to give good proof.

And if there is a problem, that they would like to bring to the attention of the American people, then they should either propose a solution or send out a call asking others for a solution. There is no way to treat the problem, nothing suggested in the wording of this document to give the reader a place to go. If there is a wrong being committed, by all means, let us band together to right it!

But no such path is suggested.

I do not know, after reading their complaint, whether it is valid or not.

I say, Shame on you! Get your facts straight!

You cannot be an activist if you have no plan of action.