-John F. Kennedy, 1961 inaugural address

Happy Halloween. A holiday traditionally spent celebrated in consideration of the frightening and the horrific. Usually envisioned as goblins and ogres and witches, the world today offers far more tangible, but no less frightening images, in the form of war and violations of civil liberties.

Recent times in Washington have given cause to dwell in particular on this. The recent death of Senator Paul Wellstone, who had taken a stand against war with Iraq, worthy of a _Profile in Courage_ during his election campaign, causes me to fear ominously a comparison with Yitzak Rabin; in both cases, a voice for peace was silenced too early, and I fear in both cases, their work will have been left unfinished.

And yet, the day after his death, demonstrators for peace marched in Washington, urging the Bush administration against war with Iraq. A magnificent exercise of the rights to assemble and to speak out freely, two fundamental cornerstones of the liberty that America has so long stood for. And in a few days, hundreds of thousands of people will exercise yet another fundamental right, the one without which no democracy is complete, and the one with which no tyrannical government can long stand against -- the right to vote freely.

A year ago, as this nation reeled from the aftermath of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and fears of anthrax being delivered through the mail system, as well as the beginnings of combat in Afghanistan, I asked people in honor of my birthday, to remember the spirit of charity and compassion that seemed so universal as the September tragedy unfolded on our tv screens; and to do a good deed, such as donating blood, in an effort to keep that spirit of goodwill alive. As my birthday approaches again this weekend, I ask that people remember what it means to be a good citizen, and to take to the polls in an exercise of freedom, and as a demonstration to the world that what it means to be an American is not capitalism and consumerism, but freedom of expression and a faith in the justness of law and government.

It is a rare and remarkable accomplishment to have incumbant politicians accept open dissent, and for peaceful changes of government to occur between differing parties. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein received 100% approval in recent election results, and likely will only accede his rule to another by force. Yet almost every election cycle in America sees opposition candidates receiving signifcant tallies, and in the last two years alone, has seen multiple shifts in controling power, first with Bush the younger's inauguration, and then with Jeffords' party switch.

This respect for the minority view is a defining characteristic of the United States; and it is one which we are in danger of forgetting as this generation faces the challenge of defeating terrorism, and defending freedom from those who would usurp it in the name of security.

In recent statements to the United Nations demanding approval for military action against Iraq, Bush the son seems to have forgotten the vision of a 'New World Order' articulated by Bush the father a mere decade ago, where international cooperation would be the guide to global peace and prosperity. An unprovoked war, a unilateral act of aggression in defiance of the international community -- a long list can be made of acts fitting that description, and of the states who committed them: Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931, German invasion of Poland in 1939, Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The judgment of history has not found favorably in terms of the aggressor in these cases, nor would it be likely to do so if the US becomes the very thing it seeks to prevent. And it would be a sad legacy for Bush the younger to undermine nearly a century of international cooperation championed by American Presidents beginning in Wilson's Fourteen Points, and championed by Bush the elder in the United Nations of the New World Order.

It would be a sadder legacy still, for him to preside over an erosion of domestic civil liberties, one with literally no precedent. Essam Hamdi, an American citizen, has been held without charge and without trial, without even the right to consult an attorney, in disregard of the cherished freedoms enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Accussations of being an enemy combatant are tenuous grounds for justification, when there is no domestic insurrection, nor a congressionally declared war; both cases of which have already been examined as grounds for curtailing civil liberty by current Chief Justice William Rehnquist in _All the Laws but One_. Who will be the Robert Taft to step forward and protest this injustice for what it is? Who but ourselves?

I do not relish the thought of this nation going to war; nor do I envy the common people of Iraq who would be caught in the crossfire of a battle. I have had to confront a daily threat of biological warfare since anthrax was unleashed on the nation's capital last year; I have learned the terror of death raining from the sky, and the fear of a sniper's bullet striking unsuspectingly, as it did so often in the last few weeks. I would not wish those experiences on other innocent civilians, regardless of their ruling regime; even with the impact and physical affects on my life as minimal as it was. I fear that an unconsidered expansion of military action against terrorism will provoke further dangers, rather than ending them; and that my home in Washington will suffer the reprisal.

It is indeed the challenge of this generation to defend freedom, and to defeat the threats against it. But it is a fight that will not be won on a battlefield, but in our hearts and our minds as we maintain hope and patience to perservere over mankind's common enemies of tyranny, poverty, disease, and war, the underlying causes that breed the hatred fueling the terrorism we face today. And it is in a continual exercise of our freedoms that we will best ensure their preservation and propogation amongst future generations.

So next Tuesday, remember to exercise that freedom, and cast a vote.
Matt