James Madison, one of the authors of the U.S. Constitution, observed that:`If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy`

How we interpret the words of James Madison , Founding Father and fourth President of the United States of America , that If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land , it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy ' depends entirely on how we choose to interpret the word 'guise

In its modern usage , the word 'guise ' is defined as false appearance or pretense (American Heritage , 2000 . It implies concealment and deception , regardless of the moral or ethical intent . The most obvious implication of this is that Madison is suggesting that our liberties are

br most often threatened when we are told to remain vigilant against ostensible foreign threats , real or imagined

The most immediate example of this would be during the Red Scare of the mid-20th century , when heightened political tension from the Soviets and an increased paranoia towards a potential infiltration of Communist ideology led directly to the oppression of Americans , left-leaning or otherwise , suspected of being Communist-affiliated security threats

The word 'guise ' is archaically defined as 'customary behavior or appearance . To interpret Madison 's remark along these lines implies that it is when we fight outside adversaries that tyranny and oppression is in place : war itself tyrannizes and oppresses the nation waging said war . A good example is how The War on Terror enriches the elite while the citizens endure a covert form of tyranny in which the nation 's resources go towards 'defeating the enemy ' and 'maintaining homeland security ' at the expense of their social welfare

The Constitution addresses this by enumerating freedoms that the government has no right to break regardless of perceived threats to security and federal interests and placing checks on its powers . The present problem we face is that citizens do not vigilantly assert their Constitutional freedoms

REFERENCES

guise ' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , 4th ed . Boston : Houghton

Mifflin , 2000

guise ' Merriam-Webster Dictionary , 11th ed . Springfield Merriam-Webster , 2004...