TIME/CNN Poll Shows Increasing Number Of Americans Won't Give Up Civil Liberties To Fight Terrorism

from the the-government-can't-give-you-safety,-but-it-can-take-your-rights dept

Mon, May 6th 2013 3:33am — Tim Cushing

When discussing NYPD Police Chief Ray Kelly's assertion that "privacy is off the table" as a result of the Boston bombing, I mentioned I hadn't heard any public outcry demanding the government and law enforcement step in and do something (i.e., curtail civil liberties) in response to the tragedy. The responses we were seeing seemed to be nothing more than legislators and law enforcement officials pushing their own agendas.

This isn't just me not hearing what I don't want to hear. There's actual data available that explains the lack of concerned noises from Americans. A CNN/TIME poll shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans aren't interested in sacrificing rights to combat terrorism.

When given a choice, 61 percent of Americans say they are more concerned about the government enacting new anti-terrorism policies that restrict civil liberties, compared to 31 percent who say they are more concerned about the government failing to enact strong new anti-terrorism policies.

This is a vast improvement over 1996, when a post-Atlanta Olympics bombing poll showed only 23% opposed giving up freedom in exchange for fighting terrorism.

Breaking it down further, the poll also shows a bit of split along party lines. Self-identified Democrats are most likely to put their faith in government/law enforcement to make the U.S. "safer" by curtailing freedoms (51%). Republicans are less likely to favor this exchange (41%). For independents, less than a third (32%) are willing to give up some freedom to combat terrorism.

There is a bit of bad news contained within this generally positive indicator that Americans are less willing to give up something of theirs in exchange for the vagaries of "safety." The percentage of respondents who support additional surveillance in public areas has increased to 81% from 63% the week after the 9/11 attacks. On the other hand, there's a growing reluctance among Americans to allow the government to expand its surveillance efforts to cover more private venues, like email or cell phones. Only 38% approve of these efforts, down from 54% after 9/11.

Now, when legislators and law enforcement reps make strides towards reducing civil liberties, they do have some support. Those over the age of 50 (across all political parties) are most likely to support a loss of freedom (50%, as compared to only 34% for those under 50). Tellingly, this is pretty much the same demographic that feels video games are a bigger "safety threat" than guns (72% of respondents over the age of 45).

Unfortunately for the under-50 crowd, the over-50 demographic is historially the most active at the polls. If this perception of widespread support for invasive policies and legislation is going to change, the under-50 demographic is going to need to do a whole lot more voting. If not, these politicians are going to be able to truthfully say they have support for these policies -- at least, the only support that matters: die-hard voters.

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Filed Under: civil liberties, fear, fud, terrorism, the public

57 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

Them damn terrorist

The only terrorists I'm afraid of are the ones running our country

—Stephen

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That One Guy (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 3:56am

Of course the real humor here is that the less worried the citizens are, the more worried the government tends to be, as it becomes harder and harder to scare people into submission with the 'But terrorists!' cry.
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 4:02am
  
  Re:
  I think there was a story about shepherds and false cries...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 4:11am

Meanwhile, there's a steady increase in the number of young people who are willing to put older people who wish to sacrifice freedom for security in nuthouses.
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Mark Murphy (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 4:16am

Species Issue
According to a quick glance at the report cover, they polled orcs.

(this comment is "BYO punchline")
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- RyanNerd (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 4:25am
  
  Re: Species Issue
  No, No you got it wrong. Orcs were the ones conducting the poll.
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Ninja (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 4:19am

The current generation that's in its senior years (and mostly in power) is morally/ethically rotten and broken. Not my words, those are from my parents who are in their mid 60's.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 4:37am

Either I'm an odd ball or their poll ain't worth a hoot for sample. I'm a senior and I can tell you, I don't like one bit all this prying into stuff by the government. I strongly dislike all their security theater. I sure don't believe by any means we are safer for all their crap. I also strongly value my privacy.

Big brother has gotten too big for it's britches.
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- urza9814, 6 May 2013 @ 4:47am
  
  Re:
  Clearly, you're just in the other 50%. 50-50 chance you would be!
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:02am
    
    Re: Re:
    I was a fixin' to say me too is senior like, until i read your post and thought to myself 50/50 be the odds. At that point I remembered feeling that way as I read the article. It's the same problem as the citizenry dividing apx. 50/50 along the phony political party lines.
    
    I am a senior but that has nothing to do with my political views or my views on the safety of our country from a minuscule terrorist threat, unless you count the fact that the longer I inhabit this planet the more cynical I become of institutional motives, be they political or business institutions.
    
    Windy I know, but that's what you get when your old and can't sleep. Statistics and polling are nothing but a game anyway. The stats themselves can be massaged in many ways and the questions asked and how they are asked are the first bit of massaging, then katie bar the door when the stat math takes over.
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    - Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 5:11pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Another over-50 here, and I only have one thing to say:
      
      You kids get off my lawn!
      
      ...because I'm too busy playing violent FPS video games to chase you off.
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 4:52am
  
  Re:
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- Landpaddle (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 4:54am
  
  Re:
  Augh, stop saying Big Brother!! While I agree with your post, that phrase has been so overused by tin-foil hat nutjobs and teenagers that it's completely lost credibility.
  
  As for the article above - well, good! Glad to see people are growing conscious of privacy concerns. If the government had real validity in their claims, surely someone would explain the snooping process in more detail to the U.S. citizenry, or at least provide a smidgen of transparency beyond the current state of affairs.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:44am
    
    Re: Re:
    y u no like orwell?
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    - Marcel de Jong (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 7:42am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Because we're living in a Brave New World, not in 1984.
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      - ltlw0lf (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 1:18pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Because we're living in a Brave New World, not in 1984.
        
        And me without my soma...
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 9:52am
    
    Re: Re:
    Yes, true. Compared to what we have in place now, Big Brother was a rank amateur.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 4:52am

"Increasing Number Of Americans Won't Give Up Civil Liberties To Fight Terrorism"

They must be terrorists then.
They will be brought to justice, even if the laws must be broken to do so.

btw ... when were our civil rights ever "on the table" anyway? I do not recall any negotiations, nor do I recall being given anything in return for what has been taken.
Soon Bloomberg's private army will be goose stepping through Times Square gleefully stopping and frisking to their hearts content, because - who needs laws anyway?
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- The Real Michael, 6 May 2013 @ 5:11am
  
  Re:
  Our civil liberties cannot be negotiated away. As a matter of fact, what Bloomberg is doing in NY is, for all intents and purposes, willfully violating people's Constitutional rights.
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horse with no name, 6 May 2013 @ 5:03am

Yet
If you asked them same people if they wanted the government to not investigate potential terrorists because they might have to pry, most people would tell them to go in guns blazing.

Polls can be made to say almost anything you want. What was the exact question used, and how did it vary from previous surveys?
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:37am
  
  Re: Yet
  False dichotomy
  
  Logic fail
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:58am
  
  Re: Yet
  Why not try reading the questions yourself. They are in the embedded report.
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  - horse with no name, 6 May 2013 @ 7:21am
    
    Re: Re: Yet
    This question is there. The previous one isn't so easy to find.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:05am

29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL] by Connor Sheets, International Business Times, May 5, 2013

A major segment of the American voting public is of the belief that an armed rebellion to protect their freedoms may be needed in the near future, according to a startling new poll.

The poll, conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind and released Wednesday, found that 29 percent of registered voters agree with the assertion that "in the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties," while another 5 percent said they were undecided on the question.

[...more...]
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:38am
  
  Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
  In related news - 29% of Americans are mental
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 5:55am
    
    Re: Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
    In related news - 29% of Americans are mental
    
    Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
    
    In the twentieth century, systematic political abuse of psychiatry took place in the Soviet Union. Psychiatry was used as a tool during the reign of Leonid Brezhnev to eliminate political opponents ("dissidents") who openly expressed views that contradicted official dogma. The term "philosophical intoxication" was widely used to diagnose mental disorders in cases where people disagreed with leaders�.�.�.�.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 12:49pm
    
    Re: Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
    black on white, it's been pretty clearly laid out that this govt is the lackey of gigantic corporations that have the power to make the individuals that compose government extremely filthy wealthy. You can still eat, for now, so maybe you don't see the need. But I don't doubt armed revolution will happen given enough time, unless things change.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 3:12pm
    
    Re: Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
    Or, ya know, They don't trust their government for shit. Can't say I blame them, I'm part of that 29 percent.
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- DCX2, 6 May 2013 @ 9:06am
  
  Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
  I have a hunch that most of that 29% who feel armed revolution is necessary are only interested in protecting the second amendment from Democrats. Wait until we have a Republican president and I bet this number goes way down.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 9:36am
    
    Re: Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
    For me its not First Second or any Amendment, i am against infringement of any of the Amendments by the Government, so until they have a convention and change them, they can not, and should not be violated (and if they are violated there needs to be responsiblility placed on the violators...)
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  - John Fenderson (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 12:37pm
    
    Re: Re: 29% Of Americans Believe Armed Revolution May Be Needed [POLL]
    Actually, it's 29% think revolution may be needed, not necessarily is needed. I would be in the "may be" camp, but not the "is" camp. I think the danger is there, but the jury is still out.
    
    My opinion could not be less related to second amendment issues -- about which I am pretty much completely agnostic -- and is not partisan.
    
    Rather, it's about the question of whether or not we can regain control over our government. I think there's still a chance, but I grow increasingly pessimistic about it over time.
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The Real Michael, 6 May 2013 @ 5:07am

Frankly, I don't believe a single poll as conducted by mainstream media. They can poll whoever they choose to and fiddle with the results and you'd be none the wiser. Neither I nor anyone else that I know of has ever been polled in such regard, and besides, our civil liberties are not up for grabs. Besides, one can observe how people think just by looking at posted responses on internet forums: the overwhelming majority are opposed to any breach of civil liberty or violation of privacy. The one thing that seperates America from other countries is supposed to be our freedoms, not merely our borders.
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Rick Smith (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 5:31am

Poll is too late....
That ship has already left the port and has no return voyage, ever.

America's had its short window of partisan cooperation for the twenty-first century; which was used to take away said rights. Check back again in a 75 to 100 year and maybe they will consent working together again.

Now that they have have the right monitor you with no oversight (public at least, I'm sure there a hidden structure in there somewhere), we'll get more reasons why they can't rescind the bad laws they made than there are pages in the IRS tax code.
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Rocco Maglio (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 5:40am

How about social safety net?
What liberties are you willing to give up for a social safety net? Do you have the right not to purchase health insurance? Can you choose to smoke a cigarette? Do you have the right to drink a large soda? These are rights you may be giving up for universal health insurance not tied to risk. Our current health care costs are becoming tied to income not to risk, so there is no financial incentive for consumers to make good choices. To lower cost the government will either ban things it believes raises costs or heavily tax them.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 6:14am

Nice to see the xenophobe cowards finally getting some pushback.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 6:25am

Privacy
I'd be all for more surveillance if I thought that it would be used to prevent terrorism or effective against terrorism, but it won't be and it isn't.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 12:38pm
  
  Re: Privacy
  Not me.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 7:48am

I can only say the author must be in a different America than I am. The AMerica I live in has been reduced to a Lilly-livered, trembling, whining, shadow of it's former self.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 9:55am
  
  Re:
  This was my thought, too. 9/11 revealed a deep streak of cowardice in the US, and almost everything that has happened since has just revealed it more and more.
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Stuart Gray, 6 May 2013 @ 7:48am

Until another attack happens.
Then the stupid sheep will give up whatever it takes.
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Greg Burton, 6 May 2013 @ 8:46am

Civil Liberties vs. Fighting Terrorism
Hmm, looks like that whole 9/11 (inside job) PATRIOT Act, NSA spying, eternal wars of pillage, torture, color-coded alert, troops on the streets-global gulag, economic implosion, jobless, homeless, Gulf oil spill, Fukushima planet killing thingee is getting a bit long in the tooth?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 9:05am

nor should we! trouble is, we are not being given any choice. it is being made for us, regardless!
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FarSide (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 9:08am

It's a little late
On the other hand, there's a growing reluctance among Americans to allow the government to expand its surveillance efforts to cover more private venues, like email or cell phones.

Washington Post had a huge expose a couple years ago about govt secrecy state, including how trillions of intercepted communications are stored every DAY.

Now we have FBI counter-terroism agent saying that conversations are recorded:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/04/telephone-calls-recorded-fbi-boston

"No, welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not."

Not sure how much more they can expand it...
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DCX2, 6 May 2013 @ 9:11am

Interesting party breakdown
I bet the reason more D are willing to give up freedom is because the man in the oval office allegedly is allegedly a D. I bet if there was an R in power, that the results would be flipped, and more R would be willing to give up freedoms.

That's the problem with the short sighted electorate. They never understand that whatever power they vest in their current trusted leader will similarly be vested in the next leader that they abhor. It's best to keep the party most closely aligned with your interests in check or you will regret it in 4-8 years. The progressives who are silent now are going to freak out when an R becomes president and starts exercising those powers of targeted killing, indefinite detention, and drones...
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special-interesting (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 9:33am

Its nice to see that basic constitutional values still enter the daily radar scope for the average person at least in some level. Long way to go.

The young crowd is as wet behind the ears as ever. The �nothing can hurt me I'm an American� syndrome infects the young mostly during the school years.

The Time/CNN group may not be noted for journalistic perfection and wonder if the questions used were neutral. Even when reading them its hard to tell without some professional physiological analysis.

Government officials have a tendency to ignore what is unpleasant to their ears and hype up the little bits/incidences that support their agenda. Unless this pols results start to influence the ballot box its only just a good sign.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 9:47am

If they make the polls something I can vote for on the internet, then I will.
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- Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 9:48am
  
  Re:
  ....not polls, I meant the propositions.
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out_of_the_blue, 6 May 2013 @ 11:52am

This poll is goddamn bullshit there is no way that 31 percent of people would give up rights in the name of terrorism.

My guess is this poll was meant to be sent out to the 1 percent but somehow only 31 percent of the people they sent it to were actually part of the 1 percent.

If this went to the 99 percent the results would have been not a goddamn one of us are willing to give up our rights no matter the case.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 6 May 2013 @ 12:45pm
  
  Re:
  If this went to the 99 percent the results would have been not a goddamn one of us are willing to give up our rights no matter the case
  
  I think that the public's behavior over the last 12 years disproves your hypothesis.
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- That One Guy (profile), 7 May 2013 @ 12:37am
  
  Re:
  NSA...
  TSA...
  'Patriot' Act...
  NDAA...
  Ever increasing surveillance everywhere...
  
  You were saying?
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Anonymous Coward, 6 May 2013 @ 12:19pm

this is pretty much the same demographic that feels video games are a bigger "safety threat" than guns (72% of respondents over the age of 45).

Yeah, and their parents thought their rock music was going to ruin values and destroy families yadayada. And I'm sure I'll hate {insert fashin/fad ten years from now} when my kids ll do it. Boohoo.
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anonymous coward (2), 6 May 2013 @ 2:52pm

Liberty vs. Security
I concur with AC1. No one ever polled me!

I am 67 and a retired cop. I HATE the way this country has moved towards removing free speech (the teenager who rapped about 'terrorism' being arrested), increased monitoring (the FBI fellow who acknowledges the government is already collecting all e-mails and phone calls), and overall knee-jerk reactions to extremely minor offenses (nearly any school in the news.)

I have 9 guns in my house and play FPS (first person shooters) all the time. Iv'e never fired a gun off a range and am (reasonably) polite on-line. I certainly do not think gun ownership is inherently bad/unsafe or that 'video games' are " a bigger "safety threat" than guns."
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Anonymous, 6 May 2013 @ 3:03pm

Actions speak louder than words.
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Stephen, 6 May 2013 @ 3:14pm

Them damn terrorist
The only terrorists I'm afraid of are the ones running our country
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Stephen, 6 May 2013 @ 3:18pm

Them damn terrorist
The only terrorists I'm afraid of are the ones running our country
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coloringbook.com, 6 May 2013 @ 3:31pm

Being Gay Is Okay
Being Gay is Okay in America
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ColoringBook.com, 6 May 2013 @ 3:33pm

Terrorists are living among us every day.
The 911 Vol. II The True Faces of Evil - Terror, parental guidance is suggested. It is about Good vs. Evil. There is no fantasy in this book. Some people in America refuse to believe the terror that exists, sometimes literally next door. To a terrorist, this is a way of life and they do not consider themselves to be radicals, they consider themselves as soldiers. Current examples of modern evil are the Radical Islamic Muslim Tsarnaev brothers,Tamerlan and Dzhokhar one of which became a US Citizen on 9/11/2012
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Justin, 6 May 2013 @ 6:20pm

Give me liberty
Its "Give me Liberty or give me Death"

not "Give me safety in exchange for freedom"
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