Silver Supporter
- Messages
- 6,072
- Reactions
- 15,022
I am deeply concerned about our nation and where it is headed. Based on my concerns, some would call me a gun nut, a conspiracy theorist, a radical Liberal, a radical Conservative, or maybe just a nut. What I truly am is a radical Constitutionalist, and Im afraid we could be in the process of losing this nation, its freedoms, and its future.
First let us examine in a holistic way what is going on in this nation at the moment. We have been carrying on a war on terrorism for over 10 years now at a cost of $80B per year. That war effort has resulted in the creation of the DHS and TSA, the Patriot Act, the NDAA, and the recent purchase of enough ammunition by DHS to shoot every person in America 5 times. We now have warrantless searches and interception of American citizens private communications, and secretly approved searches and interception of private communications of American citizens. The President has been granted the power to assassinate American citizens overseas on his own authorization, while the same aerial drones used in those assassinations overseas have been authorized for reconnaissance purposes within the United States. Bid specifications for drones to be used within the United States include a requirement for weapons delivery capability. DHS, in addition to billions of rounds of ammunition, has ordered thousands of personal protection weapons, better known when in civilian hands not as personal protection weapons, but as assault weapons, while at the same time the most powerful attempts in history are being made to disarm the populace, and militarize the domestic police forces.
It seems very strange to me that the very same people who worry that their personal safety is threatened by their next door neighbor owning guns are seemingly unconcerned about these much greater dangers.
Each and every safeguard afforded us by the Bill of Rights is being quickly limited, eroded, and negated:
The 1st Amendment is being limited through efforts at criminalizing terrorist and hate speech. The 2nd Amendment is being dismantled through the banning of certain weapons and accessory types from civilian possession. In both cases the same tactic is used, a special class of speech or weapon is carved out and then sliced off.
The NDAA and the Patriot Act negate the protections in the 4th , 5th, 6th, and 7th Amendments, allowing such clear violations of the Constitution as indefinite detainment without charges, warrantless searches, secret warrants and indictments, denial of a fair and speedy trial by jury, and the right to confront accusers and refute evidence.
The federal government continues to use the commerce clause disingenuously to bypass the 10th amendment and usurp powers reserved by the Constitution for the individual states.
Those of us who look around and make note of all of these things recognize that all of the tools are rapidly falling into place that would enable a despotic administration to declare a national emergency and effectively suspend the Constitution, and with it our rights as citizens indefinitely. But if we voice our fears along these lines we are then declared to be speaking from the lunatic fringe. We are marginalized, discredited, and ridiculed by people who ought to know better, but have a pathological need to believe that all is well and that there is nothing to fear. They would have us believe that the world is a benign place, where none of these protections would ever be needed anyway. Their need to do so arises from a deep, unarticulated fear that if they admit to the possibility that these protections are necessary, they might have to actually think about possible unpleasant outcomes, and the possibility that they might have to stand up and defend these rights. They prefer to irrationally believe that America is different, and will continue to be different from all the other great empires, which have eventually fallen into ruin and despotism. They prefer not to contemplate the depth of evil to which powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and military officers are prone to sink without strong prohibitions concerning the exercise of raw power.
I am afraid for this nation. You can call me paranoid if it makes you feel better. But it doesnt negate the facts. Look around you. Wake up!
First let us examine in a holistic way what is going on in this nation at the moment. We have been carrying on a war on terrorism for over 10 years now at a cost of $80B per year. That war effort has resulted in the creation of the DHS and TSA, the Patriot Act, the NDAA, and the recent purchase of enough ammunition by DHS to shoot every person in America 5 times. We now have warrantless searches and interception of American citizens private communications, and secretly approved searches and interception of private communications of American citizens. The President has been granted the power to assassinate American citizens overseas on his own authorization, while the same aerial drones used in those assassinations overseas have been authorized for reconnaissance purposes within the United States. Bid specifications for drones to be used within the United States include a requirement for weapons delivery capability. DHS, in addition to billions of rounds of ammunition, has ordered thousands of personal protection weapons, better known when in civilian hands not as personal protection weapons, but as assault weapons, while at the same time the most powerful attempts in history are being made to disarm the populace, and militarize the domestic police forces.
It seems very strange to me that the very same people who worry that their personal safety is threatened by their next door neighbor owning guns are seemingly unconcerned about these much greater dangers.
Each and every safeguard afforded us by the Bill of Rights is being quickly limited, eroded, and negated:
The 1st Amendment is being limited through efforts at criminalizing terrorist and hate speech. The 2nd Amendment is being dismantled through the banning of certain weapons and accessory types from civilian possession. In both cases the same tactic is used, a special class of speech or weapon is carved out and then sliced off.
The NDAA and the Patriot Act negate the protections in the 4th , 5th, 6th, and 7th Amendments, allowing such clear violations of the Constitution as indefinite detainment without charges, warrantless searches, secret warrants and indictments, denial of a fair and speedy trial by jury, and the right to confront accusers and refute evidence.
The federal government continues to use the commerce clause disingenuously to bypass the 10th amendment and usurp powers reserved by the Constitution for the individual states.
Those of us who look around and make note of all of these things recognize that all of the tools are rapidly falling into place that would enable a despotic administration to declare a national emergency and effectively suspend the Constitution, and with it our rights as citizens indefinitely. But if we voice our fears along these lines we are then declared to be speaking from the lunatic fringe. We are marginalized, discredited, and ridiculed by people who ought to know better, but have a pathological need to believe that all is well and that there is nothing to fear. They would have us believe that the world is a benign place, where none of these protections would ever be needed anyway. Their need to do so arises from a deep, unarticulated fear that if they admit to the possibility that these protections are necessary, they might have to actually think about possible unpleasant outcomes, and the possibility that they might have to stand up and defend these rights. They prefer to irrationally believe that America is different, and will continue to be different from all the other great empires, which have eventually fallen into ruin and despotism. They prefer not to contemplate the depth of evil to which powerful politicians, bureaucrats, and military officers are prone to sink without strong prohibitions concerning the exercise of raw power.
I am afraid for this nation. You can call me paranoid if it makes you feel better. But it doesnt negate the facts. Look around you. Wake up!
