poll on civil liberties

[Ken Hanly]

Wasn't the use of identity cards one of the key signs of  totalitarianism
and a police state back when the USSR was the Evil Empire and apartheid
throve in South Africa? Already there are right wing groups who see events
as providing an excuse to further restrict freedom by a government they
already see as an enemy of freedom. Will there be more right-wing terror by
the McVeigh types?

Cheers, Ken Hanly

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com>
To: "lbo-talk" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001 4:53 PM
Subject: poll on civil liberties


> [via Ken Sherrill]
>
> The Pew Research Center today released a national poll showing
> respondents divided about the civil liberties implications of stronger
> anti-terrorism laws. 39% are more concerned that the government will
> fair to enact new laws, 34% are more concerned that the new laws will
> restrict civil liberties; 10% said neither (volunteered), and 17% don't
> know.
>
> Regarding specific new measures, here are the percentages willing to
> accept each:
>
> require everyone to carry national ID card and show to police on
> request: 70%
>
> allow CIA to contract with criminals overseas to pursue terrorists: 67%
>
> allow CIA to conduct assassinations overseas: 67%
>
> allow US govt to monitor your credit card purchases: 40%
>
> allow internment of legal immigrants from unfriendly countries during
> crises: 29%
>
> allow US govt to monitor your phone and e-mail: 26%
>
> Here's the URL for the report:
>
> http://www.people-press.org/terrorist01rpt.htm