The Fight For Liberty Never Ends

Back when George Herbert Walker Bush and was in office, and continuing through the years that Clinton was in office, the Republican spin machine bemoaned the Democrat calls for investigations of Republicans when there was scant evidence a crime occurred. “It’s the seriousness of the charge that matters, not the presence of hard evidence.” They told us was the Democrat mantra, but it was not a reason to launch an investigation. They continued this whine every time a Democrat called for an investigation into the actions of George Walker Bush or one of his minions.

Now they are following the same path. “It’s the seriousness of the charge that matters, not the presence of hard evidence.”: is now their mantra, just like it was for Democrats not all that long ago. But today, they aren’t using this excuse to investigate possible corruption in government, or misdeeds of public officials. They are using this rant to gut the Bill of Rights.

Under the ridiculously misnamed “Patriot” Act and the even more odious Military Commissions Act of 2006, any American can be spied on, detained without access to a lawyer, or habeas corpus, imprisoned indefinitely without a trial, or even any presentation of evidence against him. All that’s required for any American to be held indefinitely, without access to a lawyer, without charges being brought, and without access to our courts, is for the President, the Attorney General, or some designated bureaucrat, to declare him an illegal enemy combatant or a terrorist. It’s the seriousness of the charge that matters, not the presence of hard evidence.

There are no hard and fast rules as to what offences the accused must commit to be treated this way. Nor, is there any oversight by Congress or the courts. It goes without saying, there is no provision for punishing a President or Attorney General who unjustly declares a political opponent an illegal combatant and jails him for nothing more than political dissent. We are told to trust the government that this power is not, and will never be, abused.

The Bush administration, and their apologists in Congress, and the media, tell us this power is needed to keep us safe. It’s the seriousness of the charge that matters, not the presence of any evidence; they opine as they demand ever greater, more intrusive, power with ever fewer safeguards, and ever fewer individual rights.

Federal agents no longer need a court issued warrant and probable cause to spy on U.S. citizens. They can issue their own “administrative warrants” just because someone looks suspicious to them.

The administration and their sock puppets claim this loss of freedom is necessary to save lives from people who want to kill us. They claim that we can no longer afford the freedoms we’ve enjoyed for the past 200 years because the world is different now. And the ever fearful, sheep who prize security above freedom and liberty don’t just accept these assaults on our human freedoms, they embrace them. It’s the seriousness of the charge that matters, not the presence of hard evidence.

Of course, this contest between those who value liberty over supposed security, and those who love “the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom,” is not new. It’s been around longer than our Republic. William Pitt warned: “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”

President John Adams warned against letting politicians erode freedom; “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”

Samuel Adams was less tolerant of the fearful who were satisfied to be British subjects; after all, they were citizens of the freest country on earth at that time. No other people had the Magna Charta or the protections Blackstone called “The Rights of Englishmen.” Mr. Adams, in a speech in Philadelphia on August 1, 1776 told the ever fearful: “. . . go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

In our own lifetime the ever fearful wanted security more than liberty. In the ‘50s I can remember standing up to a teacher who was telling us that freedom meant nothing if we were dead. She was one of the “better Red than Dead” whiners of that day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower confronted the ever fearful and told them; “If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking... is freedom.”

In previous generations, those who valued liberty and freedom more than the supposed security of an all powerful, intrusive government prevailed. But that started to change in the ‘70s and accelerated since then. Today the tide has turned against the freedoms our forefathers shed their blood and treasure to pass down to us. Security is all important. Liberty and freedom are the bastard step-children in this new Orwellian society the ever fearful are creating.

It’s well past time to change this. Let the ever fearful snivelers take their leave from us. Instead of going to prison as President Eisenhower suggested, let them move to North Korea or Cuba where they will be safe from terrorists and violence. They should feel safe there. There has never been a terrorist attack in North Korea. The government is powerful enough and intrusive enough to keep the population safe from these criminals.

Leave America to those of us who value freedom and liberty more than life and who care more about our rights than who is dancing with the stars or who got thrown off the island. Leave America to those of us who prefer the challenge of liberty to the chains of a government strong enough and intrusive enough to protect us from every peril.

The Mohammedan hoards cannot enslave us any more than the Communists could a generation ago. They might kill us, but they can never enslave us or take our freedom.

Our own government can enslave us and can take our freedom, but only if we allow it. The ever fearful and the statists are not just accepting our loss of liberty, they are demanding it. Conservatives must stand up to them and fight their fascist, big government, agenda. Conservatives must stop the weak and fearful from turning our Republic into the police state they covet.




"Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact."