The four freedoms under siege : the clear and present danger from our national security state / Marcus Raskin and Robert Spero ; foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-322) and index.

The clear and present danger to our freedoms from our national security state -- 1. The U.S.A. Patriot Act vs. the U.S. Constitution -- 2. September 11 : a golden opportunity for Bush II conservatives -- 3. Lessons about terrorism the government never learns -- 4. When is danger clear and present? -- 5. Can the homeland ever be secure? -- 6. The right to vote, the right to have it count -- 7. Do you already live in an authoritarian state? -- 8. Escape from authoritarianism -- 9. Our religious sea change -- 10. Holier than thou -- 11. Religious war without end : the church crosses the state line -- 12. How silent must prayer be? -- 13. Faith, science, and rationality -- 14. The business of hunger -- 15. FDR's economic bill of rights -- 16. The haves and the have-nots -- 17. The national health -- 18. Who decides who gets freedom from want? -- 19. The United States goes to war for power, peace, and profit. Subverts constitutional government. And makes americans fearful -- 20. Can you sign a separate peace? -- Last words : ahead of history : Marcus Raskin and the Institute for Policy Studies -- "Staying the course?"

FDR{u2019}s Four Freedoms{u2014}Freedom of Speech, Freedom to Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear{u2014}were presented to the American people in his 1941 State of the Union address, and they became the inspiration for a second bill of rights, extending the New Deal and guaranteeing work, housing, medical care, and education. Although the bill never was adopted in a legal sense in this country, its principles pervaded the political landscape for an entire generation, including the War on Poverty and the Great Society reforms of the 1960s. Furthermore, the ideas expressed in the Four Freedoms speech inspired the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But since the late 1970s and early 1980s, these freedoms have been under assault, from administrations of both parties, economic pressures, and finally, the alleged requirements of national security. After 9/11, this process accelerated even more rapidly. The authors address the hard questions of individual freedom versus national security that are on the minds of Americans of all political stripes. They bring together the pivotal events, leaders, policies, and fateful decisions{u2014}often pathbreaking, more often ending in folly{u2014}that have subverted our constitutional government from its founding. 2You reach the inescapable conclusion,3 the authors write, 2that the United States is a warrior nation, has been addicted to war from the start, and is able to sustain its warfare habit only by mugging American taxpayers, and believing in its mission as God{u2019}s chosen.3 With a foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich, a journalist, activist, and the author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. Show More Show Less