News Release

jim bell jimbell at pacifier.com
Sat Jan 13 14:59:48 PST 1996


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At 11:37 PM 1/12/96 -0700, you wrote:

[stuff from Phil Zimmermann deleted for space.]


[other stuff by Dubois, Zimmermann's lawyer, deleted for space.]

>There are forces at work that will, if unresisted, take from us our 
>liberties.  There always will be.  But at least in the United States, our 
>rights are not so much stolen from us as they are simply lost by us.  The 
>price of freedom is not only vigilance but also participation.  Those 
>folks I mention in this message have participated and no doubt will 
>continue.  My thanks, and the thanks of Philip Zimmermann, to each of 
>you.

Dear Mr. Dubois,

  Thank you for your efforts on the behalf of Phil Zimmermann.  You are to
be praised.  However, you should recognize that at best, all you have done
is to reduce the harm done to him (or would otherwise have been done to
him), which admittedly is a good and right thing for you to have done.

However, I refer you to the 1964 movie, "Dr. Strangelove," whose title
character stated that "deterrence is the art of making the enemy FEAR to
attack."

In my opinion, we (the ordinary members of the public) cannot consider
ourselves to have won this encounter until the REAL enemy here, the
government employees who targeted Zimmermann, FEAR to attack ("legally" or
otherwise) people like Zimmermann.  

Ask Mr. Zimmerman about my essay, or I'd be happy to email it to you.
Sadly, he did not appreciate its simplicity and potential effectiveness, and
maybe you won't either, but someday it may protect your freedom in ways you
can't currently even imagine.

Jim Bell

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