Monday, June 17, 2013

Our Constitution Is On Fire

     "Governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed." This was written back at the start of our Republic. I would like to know, exactly when did we consent to the shredding of our 1st, 4th, or 5th, amendment rights? Recent news has exposed the underpinnings of a vast, unrivaled secret police state, in Dan Ellsberg's words "the United Stasi of America." That is not far off the mark. Today's technocrats have at their fingertips a vast power of theoretical police superintelligence which Hitler's GeStaPo could only dream of- I mean all they had were IBM punchcards! Nevertheless,  they were able to track down nearly every single Jew in Europe and subject them to genocidal "special treatment."
     Where was the "taxpayer consent" for this marvelously Orwellian  & grandiose NSA center in Utah? I'd like to know, which black budget box did that come crawling out of? Is such a gigantic cloud-brain truly necessary  to track a miniscule number of individuals around the globe who organize into cells to disrupt decent, innocent civilian lives? (Like, demanding use of a bulldozer in order to squash a fly.) Or is it because the government of a nation no longer trusts even its citizens, and wishes complete and total obedience? Just what part of the 4th Amendment created that? Where did We the People sign off on that- and which branch of government?
     I would like to know just when Americans said, that it's just plain and fancy A-OK for OUR government to make such sweeping blanket searches and seizures of people's personal data and private communications.
     Oh, I know all about 9-11, the Patriot Act, etc etc. But maybe it's time someone read the Riot Act to these authorities who have claimed for themselves that such unprecedented, unAmerican intrusions are warranted "for our national security." The true shame of it, is that while a Republican administration did a great deal of the legwork getting this all going, a Democratic administration jacked it all up beyond recognition. I would not expect such things of the party of Sam Ervin, or George McGovern,  but there it is -- for all to see.
     I may never vote for the office of President of the United States, ever again. If by voting I consent to be RULED, rather than governed, by a man who is as subject to the laws of the land as myself and who may be held accountable under those laws and reasonable expectations that he is going to faithfully execute them- well, I have a problem with either the laws, or the man in the office, but my tendency is to put my hope and faith in the laws, rather than the man. And when that person have elevated themselves into the position of a king - able at a single moment's notice to suspend the life and liberty of any single individual, then, they are no longer a person on an equal footing from me, and I owe them nothing but distrust in return.
    Our Constitution was not written to protect one party at the expense of others. Nor was it written to protect one class of individuals, at the expense of others. It is meant to preserve and protect the liberty and rights  of every single individual, except when proven by due process of law- that right or liberty shall be deprived. Either it means what it says, or it does not. But now, it's flaming on fire, and the only firemen around seem to have walked from the pages of Bradbury's Farenheit 451. While the scandals are indeed entertaining, and it's always enjoyable to watch the mighty walk back their words, it's not encouraging in the long view of that which we might hope to bequeath unto our posterity.

Being President of the United States of America means never having to say you're sorry:

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