Return with New Commentary

it's been such a long time since I blogged here, but I come back with new commentary about the US government:




America, Land of Freedom That Was
It was not more than fifteen years ago that when someone would ask me as to my thoughts of America, I would easily have said that it was the land where freedom reigns. To my disliking and disappointment, those years passed with America turning its head from freedom to dictatorship. Llewellyn Rockwell, Jr., founder and president of Ludwig von Mises Institute, wrote that the American government as a whole is basically a dichotomy of the same goals; the Democrats looking to Athenize while the Republicans looking to Spartanize the people (2008). Both these processes require a type of control on the people and a type of suppression on others. We see this prevalent today especially after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 where the congress sweepingly passed the Patriot Act, followed by the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the ballooned presidential executive powers that came as a result.
On October 26, 2001, after passing congress with a clear majority, President George W. Bush signed in to law the USA PATRIOT Act. No sooner has this law been passed that I saw the concern people have with people the curbs on their civil liberties. Accusations crossed the House and Senate floor about political wiretaps and illegal searches in an accused individual’s home. Congressman Ron Paul wrote about it in his book, The Revolution: A Manifesto, that the Patriot Act itself violates the Constitution by allowing searches without court approval on a probable cause (2008). To place this in laymen’s term, when someone gets accused of “terrorist” acts, the government may see it fit to search the individual’s home, bank accounts, and mail without proper warrant. This goes beyond even when during the Clinton administration that IRS audits and FBI investigations without proper court ruling was prevalent. If taken further ideologically, “terrorism” can mean any act that the current administration disapproves of. Considerably, my act of writing this paper regarding government actions, if taken out of context, can be a form of terrorism just because it is an opposition and someone in the administration may not approve. Under the USA PATRIOT Act, anyone can be a terrorist with extreme prejudice unless backed by the administration. While the Patriot Act has taken our civil liberties at bay, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 has been the nail at our coffin.
On October 17, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act into law with applauses from Democratic and Republican leaders on both houses. Accusations soon fired as cases after cases were filed due to provisions in the MCA that suspended habeas corpus, a writ designed for people to legally challenge unlawful detainment by a government. Opposition came as the Supreme Court and Senator Arlen Spector decried the Act as unconstitutional, yet cases of abuse still surfaced. In the case of Jose Padilla, the government issued a statement that he was an “enemy combatant” and therefore cannot be tried in a civilian court and without charge. Jose Padilla spent three and a half years in jail with various forms of “torture,” sleep deprivation, and solitary confinement (Paul, 2008). Another similar, but less well known situation, was the case of Bilal Hussein, who was detained and sent to military prison without charge or formal indictment (Paul). These two cases alone proves in my eyes that the government, albeit the president, has more powers than the king of Britain when we fought him during the American Revolutionary War.
If war is the health of the state, then war is the unhealthy deterioration of our freedoms. It is of no consequence that the current War on Terrorism has trampled our constitution and the Iraq War is seen as the ultimate breech of constitutional rights. What the executive branch of the government has done by initiating this war was ignore the mandate that only Congress has the right to declare and take the country to war. Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution lays this out clearly, yet it was ignored by both Executive and Legislative branch. With this war, the consequences of the Patriot Act and MCA of 2006 were seen in its full bloom. The Haditha killings, Abu Ghraib prison scandals, and numerous atrocities committed in this was signaled to the world that the United States does not stand to promote freedom as it preaches from the pulpit of the White House. Instead, it has curbed those freedoms guaranteed by its own constitution through war and manipulation.
Had the US done what it is doing today 15 years ago and someone asked me on my opinion about this country, I would have said that this country has ascended into oblivious dictatorship. Now, instead of viewing government as the protector of our life, liberty, and property, we fear government more than common disasters that come our way. We now ask ourselves, what can we do now that we have given government more powers than their mandate? What can we do when we fear government or when different became dangerous or when opinions became hate? In the movie V for Vendetta, the character V tells it plainly, “people should not be afraid of their governments, governments should be afraid of their people.” I am still reeling from my disappointment of this country, but that doesn’t stop me from doing what I can to return to our principles.

Think your freedom of speech and religious beliefs are safe?

THink again...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/02/29/BAQPVAUVO.DTL

What is so wrong with being non-violent? I commend this Quaker lady for her bravery in standing up to the statist machine.

Ron Paul Schools Ben Bernake... Again

Ron Paul Campaign Update 021108

Do We Really Want John McCain?

with Romney's exit (or suspension) from the race, the chance for a brokered convention this November has slimmed down to almost nothing. kind of bad news for us Paulites, but I'm not deterred. Even though, the new "front-runner" the media has pushed on our face is John McCain.
I gotta ask my GOP collegues and fellow citizens... what the hell are you thinking? Well, let's take a look if we really want a McCain candidacy and policies?

Why won't Ron Paul just shut up?

Answer: Cause he just kicks ass when he schools Juan McCain and Mitt Romney.

A Ron Paul Progress Report

The Revolution Continues...