RIGHT OF CENTER: CITIZENS' RIGHTS MUST BE PRESERVED

Few columns I have written have generated as much reaction as last week's on the Waco debacle of 1993. Part of the uproar can be blamed on the unfortunate timing of my column in relation to breaking news on the Oklahoma City bombing.

By writing the Waco column last Thursday, a day after the two-year anniversary of the final siege on the Branch Davidians, I was unable to tailor the column for events that unfolded last Friday afternoon, which of course was that those believed responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing were acting in retaliation for the federal government's role in the Waco massacre. Many people thought I believed the bomber or bombers justified in light of what I referred to as criminal behavior by federal agents at Waco. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Blame must rest solely on those who conspired to make the bomb, delivered it to the A.P. Murrah Federal Building and detonated the device. The federal government has enough to answer for in its immoral tax code, its activist federal and Supreme Court judges who usurp authority our Constitution gives to the people, and in the growing litany of overkill by federal agents, of which Waco is but one example. The feds shouldn't also be saddled with the extreme actions of wacko terrorists. Which brings me to this week's column.

If Timothy McVeigh turns out to be the Oklahoma City bomber and if authorities ever find "John Doe 2," whose mugshot composite has been shown throughout the country, I can only assume federal authorities will deal harshly with the bombers, as well they should. But it's worrisome to see the number of people clamoring to hand over to the federal government more power and authority to further encroach upon citizens' rights and otherwise meddle where they ought not. I share most people's concern and desire to keep home-grown terrorism from ever happening again. But are we willing to give up our rights and freedoms to try to ensure this security? I'm not. In the words of P.J. O'Rourke: Giving power and money to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teen-age boys. It isn't in our best interest to give the FBI and other intelligence agencies more authority than they already have to infiltrate and curb the activities of so-called extremist groups.

Law enforcement already has the authority to issue search and arrest warrants if presented with probable cause of a crime or impending criminal acts. Why are we so eager to give them the authority to act when there isn't probable cause? Targeting state militias, which by the way have yet to be linked directly to the Oklahoma City bombing, for more FBI scrutiny and government officiousness, only emboldens them and foments the worst of their conspiratorial delusions. If government weren't so unresponsive and intrusive already, state militias and the nationwide Patriot movement wouldn't be spreading like wildfire.

The American people and the officials elected to represent them in Washington ought to think long and hard before giving the federal government -- as opposed to states and localities -- a significant role in crime control, even if the crime is home-grown terrorism. One of the things that separates free, democratic countries from authoritarian dictatorships is how each uses its military. Democracies eschew the use of the national military to keep domestic order except in emergencies. Are we ready now to change that and become like petty little dictatorships that are only able to survive by violating the rights and freedoms of its citizens with military force? I'm not. Nor are millions of Americans now being labeled anti-government, hate-mongering right-wing fanatics.

But it's not that us so-called fanatics despise government. After all, our Constitution tells us the U.S. government derives no power except that which the citizenry renders. What we despise is when government becomes so centralized, cumbersome and intrusive that it defies the rights of the citizens who legitimize its authority. And when government is able to cross that thin line of tyranny to oppress a so-called fringe element of society, we're left to wonder, again, is anyone truly safe?

~Jay Eastlick is the news editor of the Southeast Missourian.