I write to you regarding the letter about an unexplained detention at the border (“Some welcome,” Jan. 21). President George W. Bush decided he could do whatever he wanted and put together a new department called Homeland Security. This department didn’t have to follow any rules because the U.S. was in danger. Whatever the department had to do to keep the country safe was OK, even if it meant ignoring citizens’ Constitutional rights. He began wiretapping people’s phones. He had people arrested and sent to prison for years without access to legal counsel or right to trial. What President George W. Bush basically did was suspend the Constitution for the supposed safety of the country. Bush left a legacy that has yet to be altered and no one is beyond its reach.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 7, 2010.