Nat Hentoff Quotes
Ashcroft has subverted more elements of the Bill of Rights than any Attorney General in American history.
Nat Hentoff, Political Columnist, Quoted in Joe Conason, Big Lies
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Many New Yorkers and others felt that since the attack on the World Trade Center was made in the name of Islam, the mosque and commuity center should be built in another location further from Ground Zero. Ellison was debating someone who argued that the Mosque should not be built so that sensitivity can be shown for those New Yorkers who lost relatives and friends in the attack of September 11. Rather than insist on their Constitutional rights, the Muslim leadership of the project, moved the location somewhat further away from Ground Zero.
This is probably the first known use of the Bill of Rights phrase in the English language. For the earliest American use, see Edward Rutledge.
Originally it was published in Boston under the name “A Columbian Patriot.” This was written before the Bill of Rights had been added. Criticism like this led to their addition by Congress in order to obtain ratification.
There has in the United States, since the Constitution was ratified, a tension in every war or conflict, where some Americans wanted to reduce civil rights in order to better cope with the conflict and others observed that what we were fighting for is precisely those civil rights and liberties. John Adams and the Federalists, did not want anyone to be allowed to publicly criticize the Government while we were in conflict with Great Britain. They passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans felt that that the freedom should not be given up in the name of national security—we could prevail without that incursion on rights. They repealed the Adams laws. In WWI, Democratic President Woodrow Wilson wanted to jail anyone who claimed that the military draft was improper, immoral or illegal, and he did. Republicans, when they assumed office, then released the prisoners and restored freedom of speech. In the war on terror, most Republicans like sessions, wanted to torture prisoners, allow the imprisonment of suspected terrorists indefinitely without any charges or trial, and bug American telephone calls without the usually required court warrants. Democrats disagreed. That stimulated Sessions statement.
The Grammar Curmudgeon. Almost every government action to protect rights impinges on the rights of some. For example, laws to protect minorities from discrimination in the workplace impinge on the right of employers to hire whomever they want. The Voting Rights Act eliminating the Poll Tax instituted to prevent Negroes from voting, impinged on the Southern States’ rights to determine the election rules and standards for their states. Laws requiring all pharmaceuticals to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration to protect the public from dangerous drugs interfere with the doctor’s and patient’s rights to determine the best treatment and the drug company’s right to sell whatever products they want.
Senator Church was the chairman of the committee. It’s reports (14 in all) are the most extensive documentation of U. S. intelligence ever compiled.
Nathan Irving Hentoff was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for The Village Voice from 1958 to 2009. Following his departure from The Village Voice, Hentoff became a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and continued writing his music column for The Wall Street Journal, which published his works until his death. He often wrote on First Amendment issues, vigorously defending the freedom of the press.
