Anna Deveare Smith will be performing at the event described here. Seating is open. I've been told that the event will be televised and that the audience should arrive 15 minutes early (or earlier to be assured of a seat).

The Nation Institute is presenting a public meeting to examine the Bush Administration's claim that civil liberties must be sacrificed in the name of national security.

"Patriot Games: Civil Liberties After September 11," moderated by Phil Donahue, is scheduled for Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m. at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 2 W. 64 St. (at CPW).

Joining Mr. Donahue in a conversation about safeguarding the core American values of liberty and equality will be historian and author Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., columnist Molly Ivins, ACLU President Nadine Strossen and Hussein Ibish, Communications Director for the American-Arab Anti-DiscriminationCommittee.

The evening's program will also include a short reading by playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith.