Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Paul A. Schneider says that the government has the right to monitor those who try to gain access to their networks. (0:23) Share This Less

Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Paul A. Schneider says that the government has the right to monitor those who try to gain access to their networks. (0:23) Share This Less

It's hard to call someone younger than 18 years old a "legend," but Ava Lowery is just that in progressive circles. She created a website at fourteen where she made videos railing against the war. Today, her site, peacetakescourage.com, gets nearly two million hits per month. And she doesn't live in a liberal hotbed like San Francisco or New York, rather in a small town in Alabama. Anthony Romero is the son of a proud Puerto Rican who worked hard to support his family while waiting tables. Anthony grew up to not only be the first in his family to go to college, but to become the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and someone we thought Ava should have on her cell phone speed dial. Just in case. Together they discuss the legal quagmire the country has become since 9/11, among other quagmires created by George W. Bush and his Administration. Less

In this segment from This Brave Nation, Executive Director of the ACLU Anthony Romero talks about preserving liberty with peace activist Ava Lowery. Less

Seventeen year old peace activist and filmmaker Ava Lowery talks to Executive Director of the ACLU Anthony Romero about fear and optimism in this segment from This Brave Nation. Less

Is the Human Rights Act an essential tool to protect our civil liberties, or does it protecting the liberties of criminals and terrorists? Panel discussion with Ann Widdecombe MP, Eric Metcalfe from the human rights group Justice, and Musab Saeed a spokesperson for MPACUK (Muslim Public Affairs Committee). Less

So over the past week we’ve come to see just how out of control our Commander in Chief, the President of the United States-George Bush is… First, we’ve gotten disturbing stories about him authorizing the CIA to spy on ordinary citizens. Second, we’ve gotten to hear him arrogantly defend that practice as well as justify the lies he told that brought us into war with Iraq. If that’s not enough, he’s pushing to get even more power via the Patriot Act which he will most likely abuse. To top everything off he actually resorted to name calling when he delivered his pathetic speech this morning (December 19 2005) by referring to his detractors and critics as defeatist. The thing that really grabbed me was the fact that Bush kept noting that he had a right to spy on Americans and take us into war because Congress back in September 2001 voted to give him unprecedented powers to fight the war on terror. He blasted his critics and detractors for voting “yes’ and now wanting to turn around and say ‘No’. To be honest there’s not much one can say. However, there was one person in Congress who did stand up to good ‘ole King George’. She was Congresswoman Barbara Lee. She was the lone vote in the entire house who said ‘No’ to Bush when he first requested his additional powers. Shortly after her lone dissenting was delivered (Sept 15 2005), she became the target of death threats and vicious news reports from all sorts of folks who decided to call her judgment and her patriotism into question. Here we are 4 years later and we can now appreciate Ms Lee’s wisdom and long term understanding. After listening to Bush ramble on these past couple of days, I decided to pull out that old interview so people can hear for themselves the concerns that she was voicing and how they have all but come to fruition. She talks about Congress not having any control to check the president. She talked about how giving Bush so much power could spin out of control. She talked about how it was important that we not act out of fear, but be measured in our response and absolutely sure about our next steps. She noted that if we make a mistake and get involved in a war thane we would have no option but to clean up our mess. Ms Lee also voiced her concern about us loosing our Civil Liberties… This was all expressed in an interview we did with Congresswoman Lee on Sept 17 2001. These were her first interviews and they came on Hip Hop radio shows…The interview which was pre recorded first aired on my then 106 KMEL’s Street Knowledge show and then later on Hard Knock Radio. Listen to all the key points Ms Lee brings up and compare them with what is going on now.. Less