Today as I was driving to work, I was listening to President Bush speak to the need for Congress to act on his request for revising the rules of interrogation so that the CIA may resume its interrogations of "detainees" being held in secret CIA prisons abroad. He said that he needed these rules so he could "protect America".

When will he realize that many of his actions since September 11, 2001 have actually harmed America? We are a country who believes in a free and open society. Yet, every time an American's telephone calls are listened to without the benefit of a search warrant we are a less free and less open society.

The current Administration would classify my comments as un-American. However, questioning our government and its actions is the core of America. Our ability to stand up and declare openly and freely our opposition to policies and practices we find objectionable is what makes us the beacon of hope to other democracies around the world.

Let's not allow the intensity of that beacon be diminished by our actions. Let us continue to stand for liberites and freedoms.