Description
In her introduction, essayist Kaminer argues that the first response of the Bush administration to September 11th "was a law enforcement crackdown and a demand for new restrictions on liberty, although there was no evidence that the attacks resulted from too much liberty or too little law enforcement power." In 48 short essays published between 1999 and 2002 (most in The American Prospect , she lucidly examines threats to civil liberties, commenting on secrecy in government, the detention without trial of citizens and non-citizens, incursions into privacy and government surveillance, the limiting of free speech, and a broad range of other issues. The essays were updated as of spring 2002 (and, except for the most recent two, recast in the past tense). They are not indexed. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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A lawyer, social critic, and columnist at The American Prospect, Wendy Kaminer has said that she likes to think words have power but knows they don't cast spells. She argues with her readers and expects them to argue back. Her taste for liberty, her legal training, wit, and innate contrarianism help her elude the usual political labels and inform her writings on censorship, feminism, pop psychology, religion, criminal justice, and a range of rights and liberties at issue in the culture wars.In this new collection, Kaminer has her sights set on the fate civil liberties in America. Opening with a powerful overview of liberty's tenuous hold on this "land of the free," Kaminer offers incisive, original investigations of political freedom in our frightened, post-September 11 world and reviews perennial threats to sexual and religious liberty, free speech, privacy, and the right to be free from unwarranted, unprincipled prosecutions. She writes with a sense of the past, an understanding of the present, and concern about the future of American freedom.Lindsay Nelson has written a Discussion Guide to Free For All for Unitarian Universalist Communities.Wendy Kaminer is the author of many books, including I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional: The Recovery Movement and Other Self-help Fashions; A Fearful Freedom: Women's Flight from Equality; It's All the Rage: Crime and Culture; True Love Waits; and most recently Sleeping with Extra-Terrestrials: The Rise of Irrationalism and the Perils of Piety. Her articles and reviews have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, and Newsweek, and her commentaries have aired on National Public Radio.
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