When a SCOTUS justice was a hero

[Jim Warren]

My 15 year old son brought this book from the library, published in 1958 by William O. Douglas; THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE.
Boy it was nice as a kid to have a guy like this as a justice. He was a hero of mine back then. He was also a real conservationist and outdoors lover and I remember fondly of seeing photos of the guy in felt crusher hat and pack basket hiking into back country areas on holiday.

Also, doesn't the phrase "arbitrary power" in the sentence "They flourish where injustice, discrimination, ignorance, superstition, intolerance and arbitrary power exist." sum up the present administration perfectly?

The is from the forward:

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This is the time for us to become the champions of the virtues that have given the West great civilizations. These virtues are reflected in our attitudes and ways of thought, not in our standard of living. They are found in the ideas of justice, liberty and equality that are written into the American Constitution. They concern the rights of the people against the state. These rights include the right to speak and write as one chooses, the right to follow the dictates on one's conscience, the right to worship as one desires. They include the right to be left alone in a myriad of ways, including the right to defy the government at times and tell it not to intermeddle. These rights of the people also include the right to manage the affairs of the nation-civil and military-and to be free of military domination or direction.

These are the rights that distinguish us from totalitarian regimes. The real enemies of freedom are not confined to any nation or any country, they are everywhere. They flourish where injustice, discrimination, ignorance, superstition, intolerance and arbitrary power exist. We cannot afford to rail and inveigh against them abroad, unless we are alert to guard against them at home. Yet, as we have denounced the loss of liberty abroad we have witnessed its decline here as well. WE have, indeed, been retreating from our democratic ideals at home. We compromise them for security reasons.

It is time to put an end to the retreat. It is time we made the virtues truly positive influences in our policies. We have a moral obligation in our ideals of justice, liberty and equality that is indestructible. If we live by this we rejuvenate America. If we make this our offensive we quicken the hearts of men the world around.

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