In the entire course of American history, Mr. Stone observes, ''the national government has never attempted to punish opposition to government policies, except in time of war.'' He cites six periods during which the United States attempted to punish individuals for criticizing government officials or policies:
$(6$)Under President John Adams the Federalists enacted the Sedition Act of 1798, which prohibited any person from writing, publishing or uttering anything of a ''false, scandalous and malicious'' nature against the government of the United States; although it was supposedly adopted as a measure to strengthen the nation in an impending war with France, Mr. Stone argues, ''it served primarily as a political weapon to strengthen the Federalists.''
$(6$)During the Civil War, President Lincoln on eight separate occasions suspended the writ of habeas corpus (which enables a person who has been detained by government officials to seek a judicial determination on the legality of that detention); and individuals were arrested for speech critical of the administration.
$(6$)During World War I the federal government prosecuted some 2,000 people for their opposition to the war and the draft; those convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 routinely received sentences ranging from 10 to 20 years in prison. President Wilson pushed without success to get a censorship provision included, arguing that ''authority to exercise censorship over the press'' was ''absolutely necessary to the public safety.''
$(6$)During World War II 120,000 individuals of Japanese descent were interned. In the years preceding Pearl Harbor, a Congressional committee began investigating ''the extent, character and objects of un-American propaganda activities in the United States''; the F.B.I. established an aggressive informer program; and Congress passed the Alien Registration Act of 1940 (the Smith Act), which forbade individuals to advocate the propriety of overthrowing the government by force.
$(6$)During the cold war, President Truman established a loyalty program for all civilian government employees; the House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC, cited 135 people for contempt (more than the entire Congress had cited for contempt in the history of the country to that point); and Senator Joseph R. McCarthy launched his virulent rampage.
$(6$)During the Vietnam War the F.B.I. carried out a wide-ranging program to ''expose, disrupt and otherwise neutralize'' dissident political activities; the federal government sought to enjoin The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers; and protesters were prosecuted for burning their draft cards and expressing contempt for the American flag.
spin: *ahem* Tora Bora *ahem*:spin: ), then maybe it would be a good thing.
