I've been reading a bit on Churchill recently, and saw this quote:
"You might however consider whether you should not unfold as a background the great privilege of habeas corpus and trial by jury, which are the supreme protection invented by the English people for ordinary individuals against the state. The power of the Executive to cast a man in prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government, whether Nazi or Communist."
In a telegram by Churchill from Cairo, Egypt to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison (21 November 1943)
How can you read that and not think about Guantanomo? About secret CIA prisons?
It makes me think that lots of great men and women have lots of comments about the present state of American democracy. Feel free to post more here as comments, I'd like to see them.