Pubdate: Sat, May 9, 1998 Source: The Press Democrat Contact: Website: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Author: Stephen M. Barr RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK Editor: Now we see that the IRS has joined the ranks of those trampling on civil liberties and constitutional protections by breaking and entering domiciles and harassing citizens. They operate in sync with the stormtroopers who jackboot their way across the country, destroying justice and narrowly defining freedom in their phony "War on Drugs." Where is the outrage at this? Have we become so conditioned by mostly insipid TV that our shallow opinions garnered from emotional responses and inadequate education are hyped by polls as the "pulse of the nation?" That pulse is measured by the freedom to consume and only doing those things expressly permitted by law. But those who stray outside this purview of consumerism and this narrow view of straightlaced society are cast aside and left to the growing gestapo tactics of the DEA and IRS. To talk of the Constitution and civil liberties is becoming just a tired tautology. Meanwhile, as more of us accept the curtailment of civil liberties as justification for "fighting crime and drugs," our country slowly is assuming those characteristics that engendered the writing of the Declaration of Independence. If too many people accept this status quo, the old adage that "history repeats itself" will come true. We the people will indeed be repeating history as we cheer and wave the flag while our country sinks into the miasma of civilizations past. Stephen M. Barr Santa Rosa - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake