Kos has cited this story about Newt Gingrich and his severe allergic reaction to Freedom of Speech. I would like to counter Newt's cowardice with a bit of history.
When this country was founded, it was not some idyllic time free of care and worry. Those who claim that today we face an unparalleled threat overlook that the early years of this Republic were spent on a veritable knife edge.
On our borders there were hostile empires. On our frontiers there were hostile natives (admittedly provoked). We had no standing Army or Navy. Our ships were seized by French privateers. Our sailors were seized by the British Navy. We had two significant uprisings in the aftermath of the Revolutionary War. Talk of secession by various states began almost immediately. We were massively in debt. That there would even be a United States of America in a generation was not by any means certain.
It was against this backdrop that the Founders struck their balance between Liberty and Security. Confronted with these threats, the Founders decided that the single greatest danger to their fellow citizens was the unchecked power of government.
Benjamin Franklin famously observed that "Those who would trade essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security." He wasn't just being clever. That was precisely the tradeoff he and his fellow patriots made in 1776. They had security as part of the dominant superpower of the day -- hell, they were being taxed to pay for it. They decided Liberty was more important to them. They fought a long and bloody war to secure it. And they made guarantees of that liberty an essential condition for the establishment of this Union, when they insisted on a Bill of Rights.
And what is this threat we face now -- the one so grave we must give up these most basic of our freedoms? Consider: War was declared against us by... a bunch of guys living in caves in Afghanistan. No empire. No war machine. No bloc armed with ICBMs. A bunch of guys in caves. That they have increased their influence and effectiveness is due not to their efforts, but to ours.
For this we are to turn our backs on the very reason for the existence of this nation. The Founders would be so proud.
Newt Gingrich used to teach history. Somehow he managed to do that without learning anything from it.