The history of America is to expand civil liberties in a responsible and civil manner. We need to remember that our wonderful Democracy with its freedoms has been working.

The arc of American history almost inevitably moves toward freedom. Whether it's Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, the expansion of women's rights or, now, gay rights, I think there is an almost-inevitable march toward greater civil liberties.

Our sovereignty may be dependent on our ability to eavesdrop on transmissions between our enemies on the outside and those on the inside with sympathies for them. I trust my ability to determine who to mark for examination and so will you.

I urge calm and sensitivity to the fundamental civil liberties of our country.

Henry David Thoreau was an oddball job quitter and ne'er-do-well who evolved into the bearded sage of literature, natural history, and civil liberties.

I chose America as my home because I value freedom and democracy, civil liberties and an open society.