Is the U.S. Becoming a Police State?

I think a more accurate question would be: To what degree has the U.S. become a Police State?

Martin Luther King, the most celebrated dove in American history, was spied on because he was considered a threat. That means none of us is safe.

"Special collection program'' is the euphemism that the National Security Agency uses for spying on American citizens without a warrant.

If you think it disrespectful to discuss dictators, President Bush and the Constitution in the same column, be sure to give John Dean a call. The former White House counsel under President Nixon wrote a paper in 2002 in which he discussed the possibility of a America becoming a ''constitutional dictatorship."

'The distinction between a 'constitutional dictator' and a strong president is remarkably thin, if nonexistent,'' he wrote. All this eavesdropping business reminded me of C. William Michael's 2002 book 'No Greater Threat: America After September 11 and the Rise of the National Security State.'

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