http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0120-02.htmFoes organizing in communities
by Thanassis Cambanis
More than two centuries ago, the patriots of Brewster shut down the Colonial courts on
Cape Cod in one of the first acts of resistance against the tyrannical rule of King George
III.
Now, deliberately evoking its Revolutionary history,
Brewster Town Meeting has formally condemned the
antiterrorist USA Patriot Act, united against the laws of a
different leader named George.
While the act is largely symbolic -- federal law
enforcement agencies, not local governments, enforce the
Patriot Act's new search, seizure, and detention provisions -- the grass-roots opposition
has forged an unlikely alliance of people angry at Washington's domestic handling of
the war on terror. In Brewster, anger at the Patriot Act has drawn together libertarians,
an antitax group, and a Unitarian congregation, as well as a more traditional coalition of
civil libertarians and antiwar activists.
A similar story has already played out in 16 Massachusetts communities, and 16 more,
including Salem, Waltham, Watertown, Gloucester, Beverly, and Bedford are preparing
measures against the Patriot Act this spring.