more on Yes, it CAN happen here. (Happening right now, in fact)

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <[email protected]>
Date: September 30, 2006 11:36:46 AM EDT
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Yes, it CAN happen here. (Happening right  
now, in fact)

There's a fascinating OpEd piece by Robert Harris in today's NY Times on
a historical precedent : the ancient Roman republic.

	IN the autumn of 68 B.C. the world?s only military superpower was
	dealt a profound psychological blow by a daring terrorist attack
	on its very heart. Rome?s port at Ostia was set on fire, the
	onsular war fleet destroyed, and two prominent senators, together
	with their bodyguards and staff, kidnapped.

	The incident, dramatic though it was, has not attracted much
	attention from modern historians. But history is mutable. An event
	that was merely a footnote five years ago has now, in our
	post-9/11 world, assumed a fresh and ominous significance. For in
	the panicky aftermath of the attack, the Roman people made
	decisions that set them on the path to the destruction of their
	Constitution, their democracy and their liberty. One cannot help
	wondering if history is repeating itself.

The essay, at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/opinion/30harris.html ,
is very much worth reading.