During the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet officers gave one inviolable order: not one step backward. Any soldiers who did retreat were shot down by their own comrades. The enemy was at the gates.

The situation today is reversed. The enemy is within the gates, and the rule is: not one step forward. Take as many back as you can. And begin with civil liberties.

The liberty to communicate in a civil society? You can still e-mail or telephone whomever you like. Anything you write or say, though, will be collected and mined for possible terrorist content, a terrorist being defined as anyone who disagrees with Bush Administration policies. But U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor recently ruled that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional. She has quite clearly recognized and stated with her decision that the enemy is deep within the gates, resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and is in no way, shape or form a King.

The Bush Administration immediately appealed her verdict, and added its usual coda: you can trust us, we just want to protect you from those horrible terrorists “out there”.

Yes, and Brutus is an honorable man.