Watch out for those new definitions

Wisdom of the week

[Reprinted from Issues & Views December 17, 2001]

You should always be afraid of new legislation. Lovers of freedom have long recognized that the creeping expansion of government is a hazard. For the most part, this bill [Patriot] is merely another incremental expansion of government. The real threat from this bill is not the new provisions, procedures, funding, and penalties--these are more of the same old things we’ve been fighting, and must continue fighting. No, the real threat from H.R. 3162 is the new set of definitions. . . .

The Patriot Bill expands the definition of "domestic terrorist" so much that it includes virtually all of us. H.R. 3162 defines as a domestic terrorist anyone who appears to intend to change government policy through intimidation (and intimidation is not defined, so the term easily could be used in court to include protest activities the Constitution was intended to protect). Your infraction doesn’t even have to be intentional; it just has to appear so. The wording of H.R. 3162 has other absurd implications, such as: If you accidentally destroy a railroad-crossing signal with your car, all a lawyer has to do is convince a judge or jury that you did it willfully, and you’re a domestic terrorist. Does anyone believe a crooked sheriff wouldn’t jump on the opportunity to use such a provision against a political rival? . . .

More to the crux of the matter, the next time you examine a new piece of legislation, just skim the parts that outline new procedures, funding, and government powers--you know what’s there without looking. Instead, put your primary focus on new definitions. The devil’s in the definitions.

-- Brad Edmonds, excerpted from "What You Should Really Fear," LewRockwell.com

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