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Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Mid-August Terror

One of the saddest truths about the Bush Admistration has been its active, and frighteningly successful, push to expand the powers of the Executive, heighten secrecy and reduce the rights of individuals.

Example: the Senate votes to approve a widening of the wiretapping authority of this administration. The idea that an Administration who has proved contemptuous of Congress (refusals to testify, commuting the sentence of Libby); in violation of international law (black sites and torture; holding international citizens without fair trail) and openly fraudulent (false intelligence to involve us in an illegal war); and disastrously arrogant (putting non-military civilians in charge of the post-war Iraq efforts and the pre-war planning); could receive more authority is simply staggering.

If the House approves this measure, they're handing a gun to a chronicled murderer.

2 comments:

Scott Walters said...

It is horrifying to watch Congress to allow the President to turn a 200+ year old democracy into a monarchy all in the name of "security," which has been the rallying cry of almost every dictator in history. And we, the American public, sigh and pretend it is another episode of West Wing that has no effect on reality -- and I include myself in that. Maybe some college students will start a riot -- that seems to be the only way to rouse the middle-aged public.

Zack Calhoon said...

The good news about this wiretapping bill is that it expires in 6 months.