Today is an important day for ordinary Americans and their civil liberties. As a wave of phone calls, emails, and personal letters have postponed many early Christmas breaks for House members to debate the constitutionality of renewing the FISA amendment act. Though it may not get the publicity like the Sandy Hook elementary massacre, or protester turn outs like Cindy Sheehan's Code pinkers, neither will it merit discussion amongst the common Joe due to his 3rd grader understanding of economics. The FISA amendment has become a poster child of masquerading our governments contempt for how much they truly distrust us as citizens. Government espionage on citizens has always been a barnburner for liberal tabloids like Rolling stone, the New York Times, or the at one time for the Washington Post during Watergate. FISA is but merely one out of many acts that condones electronic surveillance, physical strip searching, access to business records, and may subject a target to random bugging of personal electronic devices. True it isn't named the Foreign intelligence Surveillance Act for reason; due to the over hyped sensationalism of us trying to still stop the Red menace at the time. But just like no one is aware, or who want to be aware, or constitutional rights will be trampled upon again due to limited readership of the subject in our countries media.
In light though of this days event, I thought it would be proper to shed light on three other acts that have put our very lives in the Federal governments hands. Lets take a step back a few years, October 16th 2006 President George W. Bush signs the military commissions act, authorizing him to create a six-man team court to judge what defines a enemy combatant on the pretence of how the president interprets Geneva convention law. The law also prohibits civilians or private organizations to use the, Religious freedom Act, the Civil rights act, or the Alien Tort Statue act in their defense if accused under a military tribunal court; due to them being held off US soil in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Even after a unanimous victory that put Democrats in control of the house that year, most still voted on Bush's infamous bill, and few sought to revise provisions of the bill that only changed procedures rather than veto the bill.
But like any atrocity of this magnitude whether its, confiscating guns, detaining civilians, or something as appalling as Capital punishment it all has a beginning. Four months after the tragedy of September 11th, Congress effectively signs into the Patriot Act, giving the executive branch the single biggest expansion of powers since The Civil War. One of the most controversial acts of the law was in title 2, which allowed unprecedented NSA monitoring civilian records from library accounts, bank accounts, and even medical records according to life script group. Even before the Patriot acts introduction, 375 local municipalities in 2001 passed city resolutions warning of federal surveillance activities, and went so far as to create so-called civil liberty safe zones in a bid for the states to prevent cooperation with the Feds. But with any major act that contains bi-partisanship both supporters of both aisles like the government to give them a public hearing to window dress their actions. Including using sources or facts such as from institutes, professors of constitutional law, or anything that simply demonstrates to Joe that uncle Sam did his due diligence. Here's a simple opinion from a more than 250,000 dollar earning, PH.D, constitutional scholars way of thinking. "I think they've gone way overboard" says Herman Schwartz of Constitutional law at American university. Going on to comment that 100 communities in Michigan passed similar nullifying resolutions; that prevent federal law enforcement officers from detaining possible, suspects, associates, or witnesses to acts of know terrorist activities.
They say a godless people eventually turn into godless hypocrites. Well for all the ambience, pizzazz, and the never ending guilt trip the media gave us for why we should vote for a black president, what has happened so far? Besides holding a meeting every Tuesday on who Obama wants to kill with his drones(including American citizens), the signing of the NDAA has become a landmark of his lunacy for expanding the use of drones in Yemen, Pakistan, Libya, and even Iran considering the fact he's a two time recipient of the Nobel Peace prize. Even now with the budget crisis, Obama is showing his militaristic colors, according to the Marine Corp Times 650 billion dollars is to be added to defense spending coming 2013. Including 88.5 billion going toward current overseas active military operations, some of which include involvement in 35 African nations, and also adds 60 billion dollars to the Navy's F-18 fighter program.
But for all the short sightedness the states take on their drinking ages, due to the hit they'd take on their federal transportation aid money. One state has dare taken a recent stance against the unfathomable tyranny of Obama's administration. An organization called Panda(People against national defense authorization act)have introduced a act called the Nevada Liberty Preservation act to to nullify any future action the NDAA takes in their state, due to the nature of sections 1021 an 1022 describing the United states as a battlefield authoring the president to indefinitely detain and deploy armed forces on US soil. Even a month after the acts signing, Democrats in appeasement to their party's supposed Neville Chamberlain image of peace, formed a committee consisting of both aisles to repeal certain sections of the act. Not if Arizona's longtime reigning neo-Nazi kingpin Senator John McCain had anything to say about it. McCain immediately in response called a house-senate conference committee to block any future attempts of axing the sections of indefinitely detaining Americans; as well as trying them before a military tribunal.
But as one old war horse retires his good name to the foundation of liberties history, one has sought to keep fighting till his dying breath. Senator Rand Paul has been the only one who has spoken up to Republicans self righteous stupidity, Democrats cowardice, and the presidents unquenchable thirst for absolute power. Just as his father(retired Congressman Ron Paul)had staked his honor and entire life to the cause of liberty in combating acts like, the Patriot Act, FISA, or the military commissions act the road to victory is all but a bridge to far to cross anymore. For the goal is not to live forever, but the goal is to create something that will. Rand this very day on CSPAN is the only one in the house to address his outrage on the quote "abomination" of the renewal of this act, and I call not only to the constituents of Kentucky but the country to call his office in support of vetoing the renewal of FISA.
