First they came for the (alleged) terrorists...

On Tuesday the U.S. Senate had the opportunity to put the rule of law ahead of fear-mongering and politics -- and failed spectacularly.

By a vote of 61-37 the Senate defeated an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would remove three troubling provisions that have raised the spectre of a presidential veto. The bill, if passed, would allow the U.S. to hold those suspected of involvement with terrorism - including US citizens - indefinitely without charge. In other words, forget about that American concept of innocent unless proven guilty; if los federales suspect you're involved in terrorism, you are guilty unless you can prove otherwise.

The bill would also require civilian law enforcement to turn over anyone suspected of terrorist activities into military custody. The bill would also place further restrictions on the transfer of detainees at Guantanamo who were cleared of all charges.

Holding a suspect indefinitely without bringing charges makes a complete mockery out of our criminal (in)justice  system. Without being informed of the specific charges against him, an inmate can't muster a legal defense and his right to a speedy trial is taken away. The very notion of indefinite detention should make us all shudder - but it won't. After all, who's going to raise a stink about someone accused of plotting to blow up a building? He's not a person, he's a terrorist. He has no rights.

But once you've demonized one group of defendants, it makes it easier to demonize the next group. And who will that be? And who will stand up to challenge the state then?

Liberty is a funny creature. We all have the right to be left alone by our government. But, at the same time, that means we can't be protected from every possible threat out there. It's a trade-off we make. The more freedom and liberty you have, the less security you get. And vice versa.

What's more important to you?

When we allow the government to take away our rights - no matter how tangentially - we are allowing the fox into the hen house. There will always be a rationale. C'mon, these are really, really bad people.

It's happened to the Fourth Amendment. Where once we were protected against unreasonable search and seizure, today it's little more than a piece of paper. In the name of security and efficiency we have allowed one of our most important freedoms to be whittled away to nothing.

Today it's suspected terrorists. Who will it be tomorrow?

I'll take a little cheese with my whine, please

Now, if I might be permitted the indulgence of a little whine...

I coach youth soccer. This is the fifth year I've coached a team of kids six years old or under. I am also the soccer commissioner at the church my daughters attend. I volunteer my time to get the fields ready to play, to run registration and to organize teams (14 this season).

The past few weeks I have been attempting to run a law practice, be a good husband to a wife who watched her father die and get things ready for the upcoming soccer season.

Along the way I have to deal with parents who want their little angels on the same team with their BFF's. I have to deal with coaches who aren't willing to split teams up in order to field enough teams to ensure kids have adequate playing time. I have to recruit parents to volunteer a couple of hours a week so we have enough coaches for the teams. And I have to arrange practice times so that we don't end up with two teams on the same field at the same time.

When I was a kid playing soccer we didn't request whose team we wanted to be on. We signed up and were assigned to a team. You might know some of the kids on the team and you might not know others. In the end you made some new friends.

The first year my oldest daughter played she knew one other kid on her team. She made friends with the other kids and has been playing soccer with some of them for the past three years. She did fine. She never complained that so-and-so wasn't on her team. She just went out and played.

But apparently the notion that kids can play with other kids they don't know and, not only survive, but make new friends, is a bit out there for some parents today. They get upset if their child isn't on the same team as their best friend or their classmates. They get upset if the guy down the street isn't the coach. It would be one thing if it were just a couple of parents - that I could handle with ease. But no. It seems that everyone walks around thinking the entire program needs to revolve around them and their kid's need to play only with their friends or classmates.

How does such behavior do any of the kids any good? When they go to school they will be placed in classes at random. They won't get to sit next to their best friend. Heaven forbid they have to sit next to someone who's different than they are.

Athletics, like school, is as much about socialization as it is anything else. Sure, by the end of the year the kids will have developed just a little bit more as soccer players. But they will also have developed a better sense of sportsmanship and what it means to be on a team. And, at this early age, that's far more important that whether their team wins or not.

Everyone wants their kids to live in an antiseptic bubble. Well, guess what. The world ain't like that. Kids scrape their knees, they fall off their bike, they get dirty, they get scared. And, through it all, they mature and learn how to cope with adversity and disappointment. They learn to rely on their own intuition and skill.

I guess we could baby them all and let them grow up to become little lemmings that just accept it when the government decides it's time to take away another freedom in the name of greater security. And you wondered what ever happened to the Fourth Amendment.