"It's not about what is given, it's about what you do with what you have."
Welcome to The Golden Sense! The founding fathers of America were given a land of wilderness and a land ruled by a repressive monarchy. Against all odds, they revolted from this foreign empire and changed this dangerous landscape into the land of the free. The land of the free based Constitutional principles of individual freedom and limited central Government created a society unlike anywhere else in the world. The Constitution was the law of the land. These individual freedoms along with a small restricted Government made it possible for artists, engineers, inventors, and businesspeople to flourish and create a society more wealthy and powerful than any the world had ever seen. This is what we can call the idea of America - the America That Was.
The last few generations were given the land of the free. The America That Was. Within less than a century, the America That Was...has been destroyed.
Have you ever asked the question "how free am I"? Many Americans may claim they are the freest individuals on earth and may recite the bill of rights. In the next breath they may denounce China, Russia or some other dictatorship for the lack of civil or economic liberties in those countries. Americans have been brought up and almost brainwashed to think that they are free without really analyzing how the American Government has recently been conducting itself. Most Americans simply take any and all freedom for granted. Unfortunately, America now places security above freedom. The Constitution of the United States is designed to limit the federal Government's powers. Over the past century a troubling change has occurred within our Government. The malaise that taints the American attitude is troubling. Quite frankly, the attitude of sacrificing freedom for security ensures the American dream is on its way to becoming the American nightmare.
The federal Government has broken Constitutional laws and has stripped the American people of their right to basic freedoms. Famed professor, Jonathan Turley, of George Washington University provides a multitude of reason why America is no longer the land of the free. The following are shameful and corruptible powers that our Government has claimed.
Assassination of U.S. citizens
President Obama has claimed, as President George W. Bush did before him, the right to order the killing of any citizen considered a terrorist or an abettor of terrorism. He approved the killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaqi and another citizen under this claimed inherent authority. Recently, administration officials affirmed that power, stating that the president can order the assassination of any citizen whom he considers allied with terrorists. (Nations such as Nigeria, Iran and Syria have been routinely criticized for extrajudicial killings of enemies of the state.)This is an incredibly dangerous precedent to set. These powers will surely get out hand. It is only matter of time before the definition of "terrorist" becomes objective and blurry.
Indefinite detention
Under the law signed, terrorism suspects are to be held by the military; the president also has the authority to indefinitely detain citizens accused of terrorism. While the administration claims that this provision only codified existing law, experts widely contest this view, and the administration has opposed efforts to challenge such authority in federal courts. The Government continues to claim the right to strip citizens of legal protections based on its sole discretion. (China recently codified a more limited detention law for its citizens, while countries such as Cambodia have been singled out by the United States for “prolonged detention.”)
Arbitrary justice
The president now decides whether a person will receive a trial in the federal courts or in a military tribunal, a system that has been ridiculed around the world for lacking basic due process protections. Bush claimed this authority in 2001, and Obama has continued the practice. (Egypt and China have been denounced for maintaining separate military justice systems for selected defendants, including civilians.)
Warrantless searches
The president may now order warrantless surveillance, including a new capability to force companies and organizations to turn over information on citizens' finances, communications and associations. Bush acquired this sweeping power under the Patriot Act in 2001, and in 2011, Obama extended the power, including searches of everything from business documents to library records. The Government can use "national security letters" to demand, without probable cause, that organizations turn over information on citizens -- and order them not to reveal the disclosure to the affected party. (Saudi Arabia and Pakistan operate under laws that allow the Government to engage in widespread discretionary surveillance.)
Secret evidence
The Government now routinely uses secret evidence to detain individuals and employs secret evidence in federal and military courts. It also forces the dismissal of cases against the United States by simply filing declarations that the cases would make the Government reveal classified information that would harm national security -- a claim made in a variety of privacy lawsuits and largely accepted by federal judges without question. Even legal opinions, cited as the basis for the Government's actions under the Bush and Obama administrations, have been classified. This allows the Government to claim secret legal arguments to support secret proceedings using secret evidence. In addition, some cases never make it to court at all. The federal courts routinely deny Constitutional challenges to policies and programs under a narrow definition of standing to bring a case.
War crimes
The world clamored for prosecutions of those responsible for waterboarding terrorism suspects during the Bush administration, but the Obama administration said in 2009 that it would not allow CIA employees to be investigated or prosecuted for such actions. This gutted not just treaty obligations but the Nuremberg principles of international law. When courts in countries such as Spain moved to investigate Bush officials for war crimes, the Obama administration reportedly urged foreign officials not to allow such cases to proceed, despite the fact that the United States has long claimed the same authority with regard to alleged war criminals in other countries. (Various nations have resisted investigations of officials accused of war crimes and torture. Some, such as Serbia and Chile, eventually relented to comply with international law; countries that have denied independent investigations include Iran, Syria and China.)
Secret court
The Government has increased its use of the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which has expanded its secret warrants to include individuals deemed to be aiding or abetting hostile foreign Governments or organizations. In 2011, Obama renewed these powers, including allowing secret searches of individuals who are not part of an identifiable terrorist group. The administration has asserted the right to ignore congressional limits on such surveillance. (Pakistan places national security surveillance under the unchecked powers of the military or intelligence services.)
Immunity from judicial review
Like the Bush administration, the Obama administration has successfully pushed for immunity for companies that assist in warrantless surveillance of citizens, blocking the ability of citizens to challenge the violation of privacy. (Similarly, China has maintained sweeping immunity claims both inside and outside the country and routinely blocks lawsuits against private companies.)
Continual monitoring of citizens
The Obama administration has successfully defended its claim that it can use GPS devices to monitor every move of targeted citizens without securing any court order or review. It is not defending the power before the Supreme Court -- a power described by Justice Anthony Kennedy as "Orwellian." (Saudi Arabia has installed massive public surveillance systems, while Cuba is notorious for active monitoring of selected citizens.) Recently, the Obama administration signed a bill that allows the use of drones in America. This is incredibly troubling and is a breach of privacy laws.
Extraordinary renditions
The Government now has the ability to transfer both citizens and non-citizens to another country under a system known as extraordinary rendition, which has been denounced as using other countries, such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan, to torture suspects. The Obama administration says it is not continuing the abuses of this practice under Bush, but it insists on the unfettered right to order such transfers -- including the possible transfer of U.S. citizens.
These new laws have come with an infusion of money into an expanded security system on the state and federal levels, including more public surveillance cameras, tens of thousands of security personnel and a massive expansion of a terrorist-chasing bureaucracy.
Some politicians shrug and say these increased powers are merely a response to the times we live in.
Fiat Money
Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution explicitly forbids the states from issuing "bills of credit" (paper or "fiat" money) or making anything but gold and silver coin legal "tender". We now live in a society of rising prices and central economic planning where the Federal Reserve can control the value of the money you work for. The Federal Reserve can create $100 billion dollars with a flick of a switch while the citizens of this country can work a lifetime and not even come close to making 1% of that amount. This is illegal and immoral based on the founding principles of "the America That Was".
I could continue to list additional moral atrocities that the Government of the United States has employed against the world and its own citizens; however I think you get the point. As you see we now are given a country that is no longer the land of the free.
We are in danger of losing all our basic liberties if action is not taken. The history of the world clearly shows that freedom has never been the norm. Repressive Governments and struggling societies have been much more common. It is now up to our generation to reinstate the Constitutional freedoms that once made this country great. The first place to start is never give into the argument of sacrificing freedom for security. This argument is a trap and a trap that only fools fall into.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Every day in the news you see people campaigning for the Government to restrict "this" or ban "that". These are short sited campaigns that attack the long term viability and freedom of this country.
It is up to you to speak up for freedom before it is too late.
Over and Out,
T. Norman
This blog heavily referenced the following article. Additional ideas were also taken from Doug Casey.
References:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-turley/constitutional-rights_b_1213234.html
