from Joe Gerson

Shortly after the Marathon bombings lockdown of the Boston metropolitan area and siege of Watertown, I did an interview with Jessie Jackson and Professor Charles Ogletree of Harvard Law School. While I focused on the failures and excesses on the part of the police (I live four houses away from where Zhokar Tsarnaev was found) and on Hannah Arendt’s lesson that creation of fear and its manipulation served as the foundation for German, Italian and Soviet totalitarianism. Ogletree stressed that a debate would be coming about how many of our freedoms we are willing to sacrifice for security.

That debate has been sparked by Edward Snowdon’s revelations of the degree to which our personal communications are tracked and monitored by the state.

Sunday’s New York Times carried what I think is a very important article of the lessons taken from Germany’s history. Please read it and share it with friends.

In challenging times,

Joseph Gerson

American Friends Service Committee

P.S. For my take on lessons from the lockdown and siege of Watertown, click here.

Germans Loved Obama. Now We Don’t Trust Him. By MALTE SPITZ
New York Times – Published: June 29, 2013