The third plane hijacked by the terrorists had just struck the Pentagon as I was gaveling to order a hearing I was chairing of the House Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law. I quickly thanked everyone for attending, urged them to follow the procedures for evacuation and terminated the hearing. The remainder of that tragic Tuesday I spent in my office on Capitol Hill—talking by phone with family back in Georgia, following the news on TV, and obtaining the occasional briefing from the Capitol Hill Police.
It was quickly apparent these attacks were a true “game changer” in terms of our country’s perception of terrorism—no longer something to view from afar as affecting only “other” countries. What was not so obvious at the moment, however, was the true extent of such change to the fundamental fabric of our society and our government.
In the days and weeks following 9/11, administration witnesses appeared before congressional committees and in private briefings, arguing always for more power and more money. A picture came clearly into focus that was worrisome at the time, but truly frightening as its implementation unfolded. That picture is of a society in which fear has become the common denominator for virtually every public policy. In this post-9/11 America, a president is seen routinely not as the civilian “chief executive,” but first and foremost as the “commander in chief”—a quasi military leader.
In this reality, “protecting the security of the nation”—words not appearing anywhere in the Constitution—have become a talisman, the recitation of which justifies virtually anything government wishes to do or on which to spend money. Constitutional “niceties”—such as ours being a “nation of laws and not of men” or a government of “limited and enumerated powers”—now are routinely trumped by presidents ordering “whatever has to be done” to protect the nation, not whatever must be done consistent with the laws and Constitution of the United States.
Despite George W. Bush’s promise that the 9/11 hijackers did not and will not change our way of life, they have indeed done just that—and not for the better.
Bob Barr represented the 7th District of Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the 2008 Libertarian Party nominee for president of the United States. He was the U.S. attorney in Atlanta from 1986 to 1990 and now practices law with the Law Offices of Edwin Marger.