That is none of her business. More importantly, it is none of the Government's business, either. The Constitution guarantees this, and that's exactly why Mr. Bush's order is a problem.
Ms. Grano must have been absent for the semester when the history of World War II was taught in her school. The German public rationalized the crimes its government was committing against its own Jewish population by comforting itself with similar platitudes. "I don't have to be worried. I have nothing to hide. What's the problem?"
If President Bush is not afraid to violate the oath he took to protect and defend the Constitution in this one case, and if the public encourages him in this violation, what possible disincentive will he have against moving on to other "inconvenient" Constitutional protections? We've already seen issues with the guarantee of a speedy trial in Guantanamo. What's next? Free assembly? Free press? The presidential two-term limitation?
The rules are there to be followed. ALL of them. If Ms. Grano supports the violation of the Constitution in this regard, then she should not whine for redress when police break into her house and rifle through her personal belongings because her last name sounds suspiciously foreign.
(Submitted to The Oregonian, January 15)
