So, you guys up there in Michigan -- has the cold frozen your common sense & brains as well? Since when did the Constitution and our country's legal system of "innocent until proven guilty" cease to exist?

Michigan's antiterrorism task force, in cooperation with various legal authorities, has sent out letters to young Arab-American males "inviting" them down to their local law enforcement offices for an "interview." According to the article, the Justice Department put out an eight-page set of guidelines for these interviews, saying that "[Arab-Americans] are also to be asked about their visits to local landmarks and foreign countries; about their sources of income, scientific expertise and access to weapons, including anthrax; and for a list of phone numbers of friends and relatives." Now I'm thinking a few things here -- I seriously doubt they're being interviewed for government security clearance even though those are some of the questions a person would be asked in that situation, and I doubt that they're being invited down for tea and cookies since I didn't hear anything about December suddenly becoming "Get to Know Your Local Arab-American Month."

Sure, people are saying that it's necessary to smoke out potential terrorists. But it's still unconstitutional (and "measures" to be taken with those who don't "volunteer" for their "interviews" are undetermined at present) and it's still perverting our justice system six ways from Sunday. To all of those people who keep saying that it's perfectly fine because we need to find terrorists, how would you be feeling right now if the guys who took out the Trade Center had been white Catholic Americans? How would you feel if your government was calling you in for an "interview"? Sure, you're a patriotic American, but how does your government know that? Did your government canvas the public when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building?

John Ashcroft, soon these witch trials are going to swing around and I hope that one day, you'll be on the receiving end of this scrunity, suspicion and interrogation. Civil rights are being suspended already, and our stupid government is again operating duplicitly. On the one hand, we've got our blank-faced Brainless Leader telling people not to condemn others simply because they might be Arabic or Muslim, on the other we've got our Dictator-in-Training singling them out and asking them to come down to their local law enforcement offices for questioning. Monkey see, monkey do, Mr. President, and if you think that giving some flowery speech about not judging others and asking all the kids to give a dollar is going to gloss over the fact that you're doing exactly what you told us not to do, then (hopefully) you've underestimated our intelligence.

I said before that in the wake of the September 11th attacks, the backlash by other Americans against Arab-Americans and Muslims almost made me ashamed to be an American. I never thought my own government would make me feel that way.