World War I and the Suppression of Dissent, Part 2 (FD 5/02): "As America entered the last year of World War I, 1918, ?patriotic? fervor seemed to swell. In May, the Sedition Act (see www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/ 1918/usspy.html for text) imposed ?a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both ...? upon anyone disposed to ?utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States.?

In October 1918, Congress passed the Alien Act, by which ?any alien who, at any time after entering the United States, is found to have been at the time of entry, or to have become thereafter, a member of any anarchist organization? could be deported.

Libertarians of the day, including Albert Jay Nock, H.L. Mencken, Randolph Bourne, and Oswald Garrison Villard spoke out in protest against such measures. But most voices still remained silent.

The various acts of 1917 and 1918 were used to destroy what was left of the left wing in America. Victor Berger, the first socialist elected to Congress, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for hindering the war effort. (While Berger was free on appeal, his constituency returned him to Congress.) The socialist labor leader Eugene V. Debs was sentenced to 10 years in prison for making an anti-war speech."

and over a thousand people were jailed under these bogus laws. Just a little reminder for those who lapse into the kind of arrogance that so permeates our administration about our system. We have absolutely violated our own principles, over and over. The question is if we will rise above and fix them. I am not sure that saying the guy in charge of such abuses is superb sends a very good signal.