Americans need to wake up to erosion of rights

Mary Gafford. Las Vegas

Tuesday, June 17, 2008 | 2:04 a.m.

Regarding Mel Lipman’s letter Sunday, headlined “Four conservative justices more than enough”: I tremble at observing the slow erosion of the rights of American citizens! At the rate things are going, one could be arrested and accused of breaking a specific law. Then he could be kept in jail for an indefinite period of days, months or years without proof of guilt.

Are we American citizens being apathetic about standing up for the concepts of freedom for which our forefathers so valiantly fought during the American Revolution and other military confrontations?

We now live in a country where the Puritan work ethic has been replaced by the “take it easy and do little” route. Major producers of our cars, our clothing, our oil and even of much of our food are in foreign countries. Many of our adult citizens are “too busy” to vote their political convictions.

Some U.S. citizens actually reside in communities where it is illegal to fly the U.S. flag, the symbol of all the concepts of freedom for which our ancestors so courageously gave their lives and their fortunes.

Wake up, USA! Look around you! The worst threat of destruction comes not from foreign countries but from within our own country.