PatMeebles said:

So what happens when a tradeoff becomes necessary for the survival of the very freedoms you cherish so much? What if the uncompromising desire for freedom is the cause of a longterm loss of freedom that will never be recovered? It hurts me to say this, but we cannot let the constitution become a deathpact.

This sounds like a case of realism triumphing over idealism at first glance, which is a good thing, particularly in a crisis. Certainly, if presented with a bargain where you agree to give up some freedoms in exchange for not losing them all, the only wise choice is to take it.

But we will never get such a bargain in honest terms, if history is any indication. When freedoms disappear, they don't come back - not without a lot of bloodshed; you can't store them in a bank and take them out later. The more likely bargain we'll be presented with is a sliding one, not to be trusted, that asks more in return each time, until those freedoms are gone permanently.

Historically speaking, it is far greater danger to us that we will let our freedoms erode ourselves than that we will lose them trying to protect them.