The Orbis

As the presidential election approaches, we as voters must recognize that the spin doctors of the Republican Party will attempt to paint Kerry as a man unable and unwilling to fight the threat of terrorism.

This is evident already in the Bush campaign decision to use film footage from Sept. 11 in commercials, a decision that easily qualifies as a scare tactic. The message is clear: Republicans hold that only a Republican can protect our nation from an invisible threat. However, it becomes clear that such scare tactics have been used all along by the Bush administration in order to continue gaining unwarranted power.

An example is the frightening developments in the Patriot Act as well as the continued Bush mantra "if you don't do anything wrong, you have nothing to hide."

Why is the Bush administration attempting to be the arbiter of every aspect of private life, and, more importantly, what effect does this have on people? The answer is simple: the government is assuming too many powers that are difficult to argue against, for who would step up to state "People should be able to hide activities, both legal and illegal"?

Few would, and this fact leaves people in a state of submissive fear. This is not a preservation of democracy; this is a radical assignment of intrusive powers to an administration that is not interested in equality of all citizens, as evidenced by Bush's proposed anti-same-sex marriage ban that would denigrate a large portion of our population to second-class citizens.

The Bush administration is creating policies that are difficult to argue against and a Democratic president is the only force capable of righting the wrongs of Bush. We must remember that the search for terrorists should not result in a loss of our rights.

The main tool Bush has used to steal rights of citizens is the covert, hidden nature of terrorist groups. Through the Bush re-election campaign's decision to use tapes from the Sept. 11 attacks, Republicans have taken to an extreme the idea that terrorists can appear anywhere and strike at any time. They could be your neighbors or a stranger on the street.

This is the message of the Bush administration. The result has been a general fear of a hidden threat, and people have been lulled into submission to a clandestine bureaucracy. Who would oppose a "Patriot Act"? Who is not interested in greater security? Who does not want to fight terrorists?

These types of questions make opposition to Bush's policies difficult, and the problem of opposing these policies has resulted in a misunderstanding of what our nation is fighting against. The threat of terrorists has changed from a genuine concern into a scare tactic.

Yes, terrorists can be hidden in our midst and, yes, they are difficult to track, but this should not mean that our rights should be sacrificed for some obscure, higher goal.

There is a fine line between responsible intelligence gathering and the beginnings of a police state, and the Bush administration is clearly beginning to cross it.

As voters, we must ask ourselves if we should submit to these scare tactics, or if we should elect a Democrat who is concerned with individual rights, the preservation of democracy,and the pursuit of happiness for all. Big Brother does not have to be the future, but the Bush administration is trying to paint the picture that it is necessary.

A Republican-led future is not necessary, nor needed, for we can elect Kerry and end the Kafkaesque creation of hidden powers and of scare tactics.

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