AlterNet: How We Can Take the Constitution Back From the Brink

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How We Can Take the Constitution Back From the Brink

By Tara Lohan, AlterNet. Posted August 9, 2007.



A new organization is leading the fight to stop Bush from trampling on our Constitution and our rights. Find out how to join them.

At no time in our country's history has the abuse of power by the executive branch been more flagrant and more dangerous to democracy.

In just the past month, the Bush administration has ordered employees to ignore congressional subpoenas, asserted broad new parameters for executive privilege and issued an executive order that could permit seizing assets of Americans deemed at its discretion to be hurting the war effort in Iraq. Meanwhile, the administration continues to spy on its own citizens, including widespread data mining of telephone records and emails.

Since taking office, Bush has pushed his authority past the bounds of the Constitution, and now a new group is ready to push back.

The American Freedom Campaign has stepped up to the plate and is working to build bipartisan grassroots support "to reverse the abuse of executive power and restore our system of checks and balances."

The group was spearheaded by Wes Boyd, the founder of MoveOn.org; David Fenton, the executive director of Fenton Communications; William Haseltine, a scientist and social entrepreneur; and Naomi Wolf, author of The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot.

They've been joined in their efforts by the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, MoveOn.org, and other partner organizations.

"The Bush administration's 'war on terror' is not making Americans safer. It's making Americans less safe," said Carroll Bogert, associate director of Human Rights Watch. "What's more, these policies are a gift to dictators everywhere. They significantly undermine America's moral credibility, which should be the cornerstone of any effort to combat terrorism." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/rights/59112/