The NSA v. Liberty

I am concerned and angry that the NSA has gone far beyond constitutional limits in gathering and storing information about American citizens. The NDAA and FISA and the Patriot Act itself have allowed the government to intrude on citizens privacy supposedly in the name of security. As has been pointed out in a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, "Those who sacrifice essential liberty for a little security deserve neither."

More and more we are learning the extent to which our right to privacy has been violated by the very government which is entrusted to uphold our civil rights. It is not only ethically wrong it is also wrong-headed to assume that the little security gained justifies this expensive and expansive intrusion into the lives of American citizens. At this point, the government  becomes no better than the terrorists we so fear. Or of the countries we condemn for their security state mentality.

It is often argued that if you do nothing wrong that you have nothing to fear. This misses the point that the collection of personal and private information is unconstitutional (as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in multiple cases such as Pierce v. Society of Sisters, Roe v Wade, etc). The High Court has repeatedly found that there is an inherent right to privacy as has Article 12 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights:

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Those who have done nothing wrong ought to be offended most gravely. If I have done nothing wrong then the collection of my private information is a form of stealing. Even if I HAVE done something wrong my information can only be taken via a warrant.

The current methods of the NSA violate the Constitution, the UN Declaration of Human Rights and commonly held morality. All such agencies should be under regular scrutiny by Congress to ensure the propriety of their actions and policies. The NSA, FBI, CIA and other alphabet agencies MUST be held accountable.  Congress should promptly investigate the actions of the NSA and exercise oversight.

Liberty For All?

My congressman asked what Independence Day means to us. I immediately thought of the Declaration of Independence and the list of grievances the Colonists laid out against the King of England. And I thought of the present day situation in these United States. I wondered what Thomas Jefferson would have made of the Patriot Act, of the National Security Agency spying on our own citizens. I know what Benjamin Franklin would have said because he did: "He who gives up essential liberty for a little security deserves neither."

The founders gave their all for liberty and I know it would have appalled them to see us throwing it away in the name of short term safety. Safety is never assured even if all citizens voluntarily give up their freedoms for that purpose. In that moment when we cede our liberties we have betrayed the spirit of the American Revolution. 

The rise of the power of corporations in this country (and worldwide) is also quite alarming. Power concentrated in fewer and fewer hands creates a situation much like the one that confronted the American colonists. With the East India Company monopolizing trade rights, the colonists faced excessive taxation and the inability to purchase needed items from anyone else. The burdens these policies caused led directly to revolution.

Today, we have corporations wielding growing power in Congress and the Courts (especially the US Supreme Court) and to some extent in the Executive branch as well. The greater the power of corporations the less power the proletariat (or the 99%) have.

The Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court was a perfect illustration. The Court ruled that corporations have the right to express themselves through essentially unlimited financial contributions to political campaigns. The idea that corporations are people makes a mockery of the First Amendment but the divided Court saw it differently. Corporations now have unlimited power to influence and direct political campaigns. The ordinary American citizen is thus left essentially voiceless in comparison.

The state of the Union this Independence Day is quite questionable. We lose our freedoms by the inch. We seem to be headed down the slippery slope towards totalitarianism and the complete undermining of the Constitution. The only thing that can reverse this trend is the united action of the People. We must rise up and be heard before it is too late.

Home of The Free?

America, Home of the Free...
or not so much these days;
more like home of Gestapo,
Patriot Act and N.D.A.A.

Free when the authorities want
and no more than they say.
We can be picked up, detained
at any time or on any day.

So says the law as written
by the elected ones
who care more for their power
than U.S. people in the long run.

But we have options; fight back;
rise up and we protest.
We can't let them take away
what the Founders left as our bequest.

©2012 C. Boeneman