How else do we account for the silence and obvious indifference of the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population in the face of the Republicans' radical refashioning of the American economy, society and state?

November 19, 2002

Low-Turnout Mandate

To the Editor:

Re "Orwell Was Right" (letter, Nov. 16):

Decrying the continuing assault against our civil liberties, the letter writer asks, "Does a 40 percent voting turnout give the government a mandate to invade our privacy this way?"

The answer, of course, is yes. That low turnout is precisely what gives the government the mandate to act as if no one cares and no one is looking.
WILLIAM F. BENNETT
Somerville, Mass., Nov. 16, 2002