“‘All we were doing was dancing. I brought my little brother. Bands played and we talked about freedom, about how we were losing it to these jerks who say they hate terrorists but who attack us though we’re not terrorists we’re Americans. I think they hate freedom, not us.
“We danced and the bands played and it was all fun and good and then the cops started shouting at us to disperse. We all shouted take it back! Meaning take America back. The cops gassed us with pepper spray. My little brother is twelve. He missed three days of school. My stupid parents say it was my fault. How about the police? We pay them and they’re supposed to protect us but they gassed us for no good reason, gassed us like they gas enemy soldiers.’
“Similar accounts, including audio and video, can be found on Al-Jazeera’s website and on the Xnet. You can find directions for accessing this Xnet on NPR’s homepage.”
Dad came down.
“Do you use the Xnet?” he said. He looked intensely at my face. I felt myself squirm.
“It’s for video-games,” I said. “That’s what most people use it for. It’s just a wireless network. It’s what everyone did with those free Xboxes they gave away last year.”
He glowered at me. “Games? Marcus, you don’t realize it, but you’re providing cover for people who plan on attacking and destroying this country. I don’t want to see you using this Xnet. Not anymore. Do I make myself clear?”
I wanted to argue. Hell, I wanted to shake him by the shoulders. But I didn’t. I looked away. I said, “Sure, Dad.” I went to school.
At first I was relieved when I discovered that they weren’t going to leave Mr Benson in charge of my social studies class. But the woman they found to replace him was my worst nightmare.
She was young, just about 28 or 29, and pretty, in a wholesome kind of way. She was blonde and spoke with a soft southern accent when she introduced herself to us as Mrs Andersen. That set off alarm bells right away. I didn’t know
But I was prepared to overlook it. She was young, pretty, she sounded nice. She would be OK.
She wasn’t OK.
“Under what circumstances should the federal government be prepared to suspend the Bill of Rights?” she said, turning to the blackboard and writing down a row of numbers, one through ten.
“Never,” I said, not waiting to be called on. This was easy. “Constitutional rights are absolute.”
“That’s not a very sophisticated view.” She looked at her seating-plan. “Marcus. For example, say a policeman conducts an improper search — he goes beyond the stuff specified in his warrant. He discovers compelling evidence that a bad guy killed your father. It’s the only evidence that exists. Should the bad guy go free?”
I knew the answer to this, but I couldn’t really explain it. “Yes,” I said, finally. “But the police shouldn’t conduct improper searches —”
“Wrong,” she said. “The proper response to police misconduct is disciplinary action against the police, not punishing all of society for one cop’s mistake.” She wrote “Criminal guilt” under point one on the board.
“Other ways in which the Bill of Rights can be superseded?”
Charles put his hand up. “Shouting fire in a crowded theater?”
“Very good —” she consulted the seating plan — “Charles. There are many instances in which the First Amendment is not absolute. Let’s list some more of those.”
Charles put his hand up again. “Endangering a law enforcement officer.”
“Yes, disclosing the identity of an undercover policeman or intelligence officer. Very good.” She wrote it down. “Others?”
“National security,” Charles said, not waiting for her to call on him again. “Libel. Obscenity. Corruption of minors. Child porn. Bomb-making recipes.” Mrs Andersen wrote these down fast, but stopped at child porn. “Child porn is just a form of obscenity.”
I was feeling sick. This was not what I’d learned or believed about my country. I put my hand up.
“Yes, Marcus?”
“I don’t get it. You’re making it sound like the Bill of Rights is optional. It’s the Constitution. We’re supposed to follow it absolutely.”
“That’s a common oversimplification,” she said, giving me a fake smile. “But the fact of the matter is that the framers of the Constitution intended it to be a living document that was revised over time. They understood that the Republic wouldn’t be able to last forever if the government of the day couldn’t govern according to the needs of the day. They never intended the Constitution to be looked on like religious doctrine. After all, they came here fleeing religious doctrine.”
I shook my head. “What? No. They were merchants and artisans who were loyal to the King until he instituted policies that were against their interests and enforced them brutally. The religious refugees were way earlier.”
“Some of the Framers were descended from religious refugees,” she said.
“And the Bill of Rights isn’t supposed to be something you pick and choose from. What the Framers hated was tyranny. That’s what the Bill of Rights is supposed to prevent. They were a revolutionary army and they wanted a set of principles that everyone could agree to. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The right of people to throw off their oppressors.”
“Yes, yes,” she said, waving at me. “They believed in the right of people to get rid of their Kings, but —” Charles was grinning and when she said that, he smiled even wider.
“They set out the Bill of Rights because they thought that having absolute rights was better than the risk that
