Have we passed the point of no return in this country? Has the right engineered such a change in our laws that nothing can be done to bring the country back from an Orwellian State that exists to serve the oligarchy and has stripped the common man of his basic unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Has the Federal government become so powerful that it can imprison people for dissent? Can this government really designate anyone it wished a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer and prosecute him or her without the benefit of due process? Have we really come to this point?
Some believe we have. There are some that honestly believe that America has no safeguards for civil liberties. These people believe that the right of free speech and the rights guaranteed us under the Constitution have been replaced by new laws that abridge our expectations of privacy, our right to dissent, and our right to challenge our government in a court of law to be decided by a jury of our peers.
These concerns are everywhere. I see them in articles, in e-mails, in telephone conversations and in the media. If this has indeed taken place, how was it done? Has the global war on terrorism taken such a priority in this nation that it now infringes on our personal freedom? If this is the case, can we ever get back what we have lost?
I believe that these questions are important and that we should all be asking them. I also believe that we should all be asking the question that if this is the case, how we as a people can change the situation. We should all be engaged in taking a reality check.
We should be asking ourselves if this government really needs the power that we seem to have ceded to them. We should be asking if the government really needs the authority to monitor our phone conversations, our e-mails and our mail. We should also be concerned about the laws that have been passed that require every citizen to have a national ID card. We should be asking the question why would it be necessary for the Federal Government to have the power to search our homes without our knowledge or without us being there because they say that they have information that indicates that we “might” be terrorists or terrorist sympathizers without having to show evidence of that belief because they claim it is “sensitive” in nature and could jeopardize “national security”.
The point I am making here is that the government has indeed overstepped its authority. The people that worry about whether or not we have reached the point of no return are asking a reasonable question. Have we turned into a police state? You tell me. Many Americans claim that the question is not important because they have nothing to hide. From my perspective that comes from 57 years on this planet, we all have something to hide. There is no one that lives that doesn’t have secrets that they would rather not be exposed. There is not a person alive that has not broken some law at sometime in their lives. No human being on Earth is untouchable. This is not opinion, it is a fact.
Now is the time to reflect on what one of the greatest patriot and statesmen in American history once said. Benjamin Franklin said “Those that would give up their freedom for a little security shall have neither freedom nor security”. This statement carries more weight and meaning now than it ever has, at least in my lifetime. When the government can do what it will, whether it be to tap your phone or to search your house without a signed warrant from a judge that has been given probable cause to issue a warrant, we have no rights. Thus we have indeed become a police state by the very definition of the words.
Will we have the chance to rectify the situation and put this nation back on track as a nation that obeys its own Constitution and thus the rule of law, or is it too late? It becomes too late when our leaders no longer talk about the civil rights that we have lost. When the citizenry is unconcerned and the leaders that are elected by the citizenry don’t examine the constitutionality of laws passed hastily by people that were afraid of things that they didn’t understand and voluntarily gave up their rights, it is doubtful that without a discussion of these freedoms lost, that we will ever get them back.
The two political parties that govern this nation do not seem as if they are in the least bit concerned that Americans have given up their rights against illegal search and seizure, the expectation of privacy in their communications, or the right to due process which is the right to be told what they are being charged for, the right of representation by a lawyer, the right to a speedy trail, and the right to be judged by a jury f their peers. If you are suspected of terrorism or of aiding a terrorist, you no longer have these rights. It doesn’t matter if you were born here or if you are an immigrant. The only thing that matters is that you are suspected by people that don’t have to tell you why they suspect you.
The major Democratic candidates and the major Republican candidates are not questioning these things. The laws have already been passed and the mechanisms in place. Meanwhile the people are silent and compliant. Have you ever wondered how the Nazi’s were allowed to subjugate the German People? You need not wonder any longer. It has happened to the American People now too. The terrorists have won. If like President Bush claims, they hate us for our freedom, they need hate us any longer. We have no freedom to hate us for.
