Foundations of Totalitarianism

The courts have now ruled that the President has the authority to order the assassination of US citizens without any due process. Just claim that doing so involves "state secrets." Over at Jihad Watch there's euphoria. Almost unanimous support amongst among the commentators.

It's tempting of course to cede all of your freedoms to your government when you are scared. The British would have been tempted when German bombs were raining down on Britain. But even war mongering Churchill recognized that retaining freedoms and rights for citizens was just too important. Here's what he said.

"The power of the Executive to cast a man in prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government, whether Nazi or Communist." Winston Churchill in a telegram by Churchill from Cairo, Egypt to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison (1943-11-21)