It's a time to celebrate the origin of the United States of America and the people -- soldiers, statesmen and everyday citizens -- who sacrificed their lives and their fortunes.
But Independence Day also serves as a needed period of reflection.
It should be a time for all citizens to consider the meaning behind the lofty truths in the Declaration of Independence and the protections enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
As the United States prepares to celebrate its 226th birthday this Thursday, all Americans should pay closer attention to the guiding wisdom of the Founding Fathers, who sought to prevent a powerful government from infringing on the rights of individuals.
Several recent events involving the infringement of those same rights have left the Founding Fathers turning over in their graves.
Armed with a secret subpoena signed by an anonymous judge in a closed-door hearing, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation can force librarians to surrender reading lists of patrons.
The strong-arm tactics extend to imprisoning librarians who fail to comply and even those who discuss the materials searched by the FBI.
This amounts to nothing more than a sample of the FBI flexing its newly found muscles granted by the USA PATRIOT Act. The act, passed in the wave of shock and blind fear that paralyzed the United States after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, also allows federal agents to access private student information with little to no real reason.
The act weakens judges' powers to monitor wiretaps to ensure that they are justified while increasing the federal government's ability to conduct secret searches.
