The lives and sacrifices are really too numerous to count for us to pay significant homage, to those who laid the foundation of this free and open society. Our lives were blessed the moment we were born in this country. It is, without a doubt...and even with all her faults...the greatest that has ever existed. Our freedoms and liberties were forged in the fire of justified revolt, and penned by the hands of almost god-like men who were alive well ahead of their time. Their experiences taught them that government is a necessary evil that could not be taken completely out of the hands of the citizens who lived under it. They knew that no matter how careful they were, there might come a time when all of their checks and balances would be challenged in the future, and the civil rights and liberties of its people might be put at grave risk.
The United States Government, as we see it today and over the last twelve years, has morphed into what can best be described as a multi-headed hydra, each one acting independently of the other with no real sense of morality or justice. When one head is cut off, it grows two more, becoming twice as deadly to those it faces. Its only objective today is to gain more and more power over us all. The phone record scandal is as poisonous as the IRS scandal in that it involves data collection without probable cause. That is in direct violation of the fourth amendment. The reason being proffered to us is that it is for our security and our safety. Yes, history has a dark and dreaded tale to tell about governments that have used this tac to foment greater control over what it wishes to change from citizens to subjects.
It is the government's main job to protect us. It is there, primarily, to maintain a standing army to repulse invaders and other threats to our national security. As technology evolves and more threats appear, it must also evolve to counter those threats and use that technology to keep one step ahead of our enemies. But, and it's a big BUT, it must do so within the confines of the Constitution, the written law of the land, and with a moral compass. The reason is because we live in a free and open society. If anything should be of utmost importance to our government, it should be to keep us free and open so we can pursue life, liberty and happiness the way we see fit under the law.
We cannot, as a whole, agree with the present administration that there must be a trade-off if we are to be kept safe. I summarily reject such an argument, since the alternative of acquiescing to it means we come under a stronger arm of control. The president this week says we must trust our government. That is true, if it shows us it is trustworthy. When the government starts attacking the press, politically targeting groups that is peacefully opposed to it, refuses to protect our ambassadors, gleans phone records of millions of Americans in secret, runs guns to the drug cartels without the Mexican government's knowledge (which is NOT what the Bush administration was doing), grants hundreds of millions of dollars to green energy projects that are run by government connected cronies, uses the EPA to attack legitimate companies operating within the law, and wishes to undermine our national sovereignty by opening our borders to any and all....there is little reason to trust this government. When the Attorney General refuses to answer the question of whether or not Congressmen and Senators have had their calls and e-mails monitored, there is little reason to trust this government. When Lois Lerner claims innocence, and then pleads the fifth, and remains silent, there is little reason to trust this government. When the DHS purchases literally a billion hollow point bullets...that are NEVER used in training ( I know since I was in law enforcement for a time)...there is little reason to trust this government.
What the United States Government needs to understand is that it can't stop all that ails us. Further, I...along with millions of others...don't want it to if it means our personal privacy is intruded upon and the data of who we are talking to and how often, is collected and maintained in a data base for further scrutiny.
I would rather live in a free and open society, replete with the consequences of what that means when a dangerous world surrounds us....than be 'safe' with a police state overseeing all I do, where I do it and with whom. The openness we enjoy...the freedoms, the liberties and the privacy...is more important to me than life itself. If some terrorist happens to take me out....I would rather die that way...a free man...than be smothered by a tyrannical government for the rest of my days. The fact is, none of us are going to get out of this life alive. None of us can choose (except for the suicidal), when how or where we are going to die. But, we can choose in what state we are in when that time comes. I don't want my government to choose that state for me. I was born under the banner of freedom for all. That's how I want to die. So, the NSA can jump off a cliff as they trumpet the goodness in what they are doing. It isn't a good thing. It's the growth of new hydra head, and it will bite us all if we let this attack on our liberties stand.
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