The U.S.A. - Patriot Act of 2001 the pillar of the Bush administration's war against terrorism -- stands in this authoritarian lineage. Despite noble intentions, the consequences of this hasty piece of legislation are frightening. It elevates executive action beyond accountability to the judiciary. Police powers -- from detaining and wiretapping, to monitoring us -- are expanded with little or no protection for citizens. Military tribunals replace civil courts -- with weak due process. And government actions are shrouded more and more with a veil of secrecy. The five thousand American residents interviewed and 1200 people arrested or detained -- disproportionately Arab-Americans and Muslim-Americans -- are but the visible peak of this invisible and illegitimate set of policies that threaten the rights and liberties of all American residents or citizens.

(Source: Dr. Cornel West, a Harvard University professor of religion and Afro-American Studies (excerpt from the novel, It's a Free Country); Photo by Stephanie Gross).