In Defense of Our America - by Anthony D Romero & Dina Temple-Raston (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"A brave, powerful book from one of freedom's most courageous defenders. These stories remind us how real -- how personal -- the threats to our Constitutional rights really are -- and of the duty that we all have to protect them in times of trouble. Woven through these riveting chapters is a strong reminder: democracy is the best security." -- Eli Pariser, Founder and Executive Director, MOVEON.ORG

Executive Director of the ACLU Anthony D. Romero and award-winning journalist Dina Temple-Raston present stories of real Americans at the front lines of the fight for civil liberties at a time when our most basic rights are being challenged. From the story of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh to the battle against the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program, and from a movement in Pennsylvania to force religion into the public school science curriculum to the case of Matthew Limon, a gay teenager sentenced to seventeen years in prison for having consensual oral sex with another teenage boy in Kansas, In Defense of Our America offers readers an eye-opening look at the dangerous erosion of rights in the post-9/11 age of terror and chronicles the courageous ongoing struggle of ordinary Americans to preserve our hard-won constitutional freedoms.

From the Back Cover

Executive Director of the ACLU Anthony D. Romero and award-winning journalist Dina Temple-Raston present stories of real Americans at the front lines of the fight for civil liberties at a time when our most basic rights are being challenged. From the story of "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh to the battle against the National Security Agency's warrantless spying program, and from a movement in Pennsylvania to force religion into the public school science curriculum to the case of Matthew Limon, a gay teenager sentenced to seventeen years in prison for having consensual oral sex with another teenage boy in Kansas, In Defense of Our America offers readers an eye-opening look at the dangerous erosion of rights in the post-9/11 age of terror and chronicles the courageous ongoing struggle of ordinary Americans to preserve our hard-won constitutional freedoms.

Review Quotes

"The nation's founders dedicated their lives to the fundamental freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. Anthony Romero's compelling book shows the heavy and unacceptable price we pay when we fail to live up to the ideals at the heart of our democracy." -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy

"This is a powerful book that makes abstract concepts about rights and liberties compellingly real. There is only one problem with this book--once you start reading it you can't put it down." -- --John W. Dean, Former Nixon White House Counsel

"Eloquent and moving. . . . Tackling issues from terrorism and wiretapping to Katrina and religion in schools, Romero shows us how everyday Americans--true patriots--fight for our nation's core values of individual freedom and human dignity." -- --John D. Podesta, CEO and President, Center for American Progress

"These case studies make a very simple point: that far too often in today's America the only thing between total government dominance and freedom is the American Civil Liberties Union. . . . They've been at their best since 9-11." -- Seymour Hersh

"A brave, powerful book from one of freedom's most courageous defenders. These stories remind us how real--how personal--the threats to our Constitutional rights really are--and of the duty that we all have to protect them in times of trouble." -- Eli Pariser, Founder and Executive Director, moveon.org