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John Adams Blog

The blog of The Antient and Honourable John Adams Society, Minnesota's Conservative Debating Society www.johnadamssociety.org

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Debate October 19

Note the location change to the Pool & Yacht Club, Lilydale.


The John Adams Society

Todd E. Pierce Christopher Phelan Marianne S. Beck Kenneth Ferguson
Chairman Secretary Chief Whip Chancellor

October 19, 2005

There is danger that, if the court does not temper its doctrinaire logic with a little practical wisdom, it will convert the constitutional Bill of Rights into a suicide pact.
-Justice Robert Jackson


THE TRADE-OFF BETWEEN LIBERTY AND SECURITY IS AN OLD ONE. During the Civil War, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus, insisting that it made no sense for him to protect this one constitutional right and allow the very Union established by the Constitution to be obliterated. During World War II, thousands of Japanese-Americans were interned in camps in an effort to counter espionage and sabotage. And we complain about taking off our shoes at the airport?

This is war, folks. War calls for sacrifice. It demeans our troops in harm's way to ask them to risk that harm to protect a nation of whiners, complainers, and fanatical ACLU types who would willingly watch our nation go down in flames rather than risk the disapproval of those in their cocktail party set.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if not for the constant vigilance of civil libertarian zealots, what rights would we currently have? At all times, leaders can claim national emergency (and if one doesn't really exist, one can be made to exist.) Our liberties are not a convenience to be given up in wartime like nylons. They are our rights due us as part of our dignity as human beings. They are precisely why we fight.

THE CHAIRMAN, taking a break from calling for the internment of neocons, has called for a debate to settle the question:

RESOLVED: SEARCH ME, PLEASE!

The Debate will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2005 at the Pool & Yacht Club, 1600 Lilydale Road, Lilydale MN. (Click Here for an interactive map to the location.). The Chancellor will preside over drinks beginning at seven o'clock p.m. The debate will begin at half past seven. While there is no dress code for attendance, gentlemen who wish to speak must wear a tie; ladies should adhere to a similar sartorial standard. For those gentlemen who arrive tieless yet wish to speak, fret not: the Purveyor of Ties will keep on hand at least one of his quite remarkable ties for just such an eventuality. Questions about debate caucus procedures or about the John Adams Society itself may be directed to the Chairman at (952) 937-7630 or the Secretary at (612) 204-5615.