First of all I would like to welcome you back to the ’76er. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. A lot has happened over the weeks that the blog has been on a break (sorry for the major delay). Most of all, and on the forefront of all our minds, is the massacre of twenty innocent children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. And we’ll be going over that in this post among other things.
I titled this post A Battle Ensues? for a number of reasons. While the Constitution has been whittled away for decades and the size of government has grown explosively in just the last few, we have in the last eight or so years seen an aggressive drive to take the power out of the hands of the people and place it firmly in those of the government. It is something that needs to be talked about out loud because if you refuse to address the existence of the problem then it can never be solved.
I know that many people have notice that I have railed against the Obama Administration and they sometimes draw a conclusion that I must have loved Bush’s presidency. I hate to tell you, but that’s false. I petitioned against that administration many times throughout its term, called for criminal charges against Bush himself, and I can partly thank it for contributing to my becoming politically active. And so we shall begin with President Bush and the War on Terror.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for the perfect President. That’s a tough search because such a thing doesn’t exist. I’ve been known to say that everything started going downhill after Washington. But something changed on September 11, 2001 and it took a while for most of America to see it. Those who are diligent caught it pretty early on though. That day marked the first real time mainland America was attacked (significantly) and the result was devastating. Nearly 3,000 Americans dead, buildings destroyed, and the feeling of safety shattered by an enemy we never thought could touch us. We were right to be afraid at the time. But fear often leads to action. And action born of fear is usually not well thought out. At least not with the rights of citizens kept in mind.
I’ve quoted Benjamin Franklin before as saying anyone willing to give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserves neither. Keep that in mind as we move forward.
In the whirlwind of activity that followed the terrorist attacks we started two wars, initiated a global “war on terror”, and passed major legislation all in the name of security, freedom, and justice. At the time it was generally hailed as a triumph against our enemies and a show of force to those who would aid or shelter them. However, in those achievements of security we have to stop and ask ourselves at what cost were those strides against terror paid? Remember Ben’s words.
The Patriot Act was passed overwhelmingly and practically without opposition in 2001. The Act can grants expanded freedom of wiretapping and surveillance on American citizens. It allows the government to name anyone an “enemy combatant” or “terrorist” no matter what the circumstances of evidence of guilt. It even threatened the privacy of citizens of British Colombia. That’s in Canada, a whole other country. But would our leaders really allow infringements on our Constitutional rights? They probably had no idea. Congressman Jim McDermott is on record saying that the Senate didn’t even read the bill. So there’s that.
The Military Authorization Act and other bills allow the President to use the U.S. military as a policing force inside the borders of America. This is a direct violation of law but in the wake of the terror attacks it passed as well. I’ve had numerous conversations with people about these and various other bills that have been passed in the interest of security. I do agree that steps were needed, and still need, to be taken to ensure our safety. However, those measures should never come at the cost of the Constitution or our inalienable rights. Warrantless wire-tapping, arrest without cause, denial of due process and numerous other violations of our freedoms should be cause for alarm.
People say that it makes us safer and in some instances is does. But we have to consider the cost: our rights. I’m a big believer in “the slippery slope”. A person can be detained without reason for an indefinite amount of time under the suspicion of terrorism, which in itself is loosely defined. That goes for American citizens as well. You may say “well they won’t do that to innocent people”. Let’s be clear, if an American can be arrested and thrown into isolation for several years without contact with a lawyer or anyone for little to no reason, (this did happen by the way), then they can do it to anyone. It sets up the ability for tyranny.
Now I’m not saying all laws work this way and lead down that path. Making it illegal to j-walk won’t lead to your freedom of travel to be taken away. But if you ban a few things people can say you set the precedent to ban any or all speech. If you ban one kind of gun you can ban any gun. There are some glaringly obvious dangers in laws out there and we need to sit up, take notice, and say something about it.
So, we’ve touched on Bush’s administration (I know we could go farther back but I’m trying to keep it short). Let’s move up to Obama. Obama has nearly finished his first term and is about to begin his second. His first four years have been interesting. He has signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law. Some things are still coming out about it but it has sections so vaguely worded about how to define actions as “aiding terrorism” that some journalist made a point that simply asking their questions could be consider illegal.
Most controversially he championed his healthcare reform, more commonly known as Obamacare. Does/did healthcare need an over haul? Yes, it has for years. However we need to look at this thing very closely. I won’t get into the details about the tax increases and rise in healthcare costs (which most analysts in country are predicting). People still haven’t finished reading the darn thing yet so I’m sure more will show up later. What frightens me is just what this bill says the government can do and scarier still, that the Supreme Court said was constitutional.
Obamacare states that you have to have health insurance. I’m sure nobody thinks it’s a bad thing to have insurance. However, if you don’t get it you will be fined. Wait a minute. How can you say you want to help people with their medical bills and then bill them for not being able to get insurance? But here’s the scary thing I mentioned above. This means that the government can coerce you into doing what they want, so long as they can call it a tax. What? That is not how the Constitution was meant to be used. This is a blatant misuse of power. And that misuse has spanned multiple presidencies.
Now, let’s take a look at more recent events. Last month, a madman murdered his mother, stole her guns, and slaughtered twenty children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. This was a nearly incomprehensible act of evil committed in a place where we would like to think our children are safe. It was terrible, cold, and it is something we won’t forget. That being said, there were some expected results of this.
Gun control was instantly thrown to the forefront of the situation practically within minutes of the event. Now I know we just spent a three part series about gun rights so I’ll try not to make this an impromptu “part four”. Whenever something like this happens this subject always comes up. Without getting into too much detail we already know that gun massacres are not nearly as common as the media tries to say they are (they’re less than 1% of all gun crime). We also know that “assault weapons” aren’t widely used as crime weapons (all rifle types make up less than 4% of gun crime). And we also know what where there are more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens there is less crime (juxtapose gun violence in Chicago with the levels of Phoenix). I could give a load more of facts that basically disprove everything the main-stream media is saying about guns and gun control. Connecticut has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Didn’t help, did it?
The only way guns can be brought into this scenario is that the mother displayed irresponsible gun ownership. She feared her son was mentally disturbed enough that she may have committed him. Then why did she allow access to the weapons and teach her son how to operate them? There’s your problem.
But back to gun control. Now you have all the usual people involved. Bloomberg, Feinstein, the Brady’s, and Code Pink to name a few. They paint gun owners as mentally disturbed at best and murderers as worst. They blame the NRA for the evil perpetrated by a single disturbed individual instead of the murderers. So, just like always, new legislation is being proposed. Obama (we’ve gone over his record before) created a panel and gave them thirty days to come up with ideas. Being headed by vice president Biden (very anit-gun) I can guess as to what those ideas will be. We’ve heard of the use of Executive Orders and the banning of magazines, ammo, and “certain types” of rifles. Senator Feinstein’s proposal is the most restrictive gun legislation ever seen.
Like I said above, I’m not going to hinge this post on gun control but it is a large part of the bigger picture. The Second Amendment exists so that the citizens of this country can defend themselves in the event of invasion or from tyranny. It is not about hunting or sport shooting (although those inherently come from gun ownership). I’ve said before, the Second Amendment holds up the rest of the Constitution. That’s a fact. Look up what the Founders said about firearms. And now, because of the actions of a few madmen the rights of millions are in jeopardy. This goes far beyond gun rights by the way. This is about our rights as a whole, period. Ask any gun owner.
Looking back, the previous administrations have slowly but surely expanded the power of government and chipped away at the strength of the people. This has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats. But now we look at those currently in power and see the things that are happening. Never before has the Constitution been on such a perilous edge as it is right now.
I mentioned earlier why I entitled this post A Battle Ensues? I chose this title mainly for this reason: this country hasn’t been this divided in over a century, both politically and socially. It seems, to me, that the country has split into two general camps. One moving forward towards a secular, government dependent, big government, unarmed future. The other trying to hold on to what made this country what it is and to honor those that came before us. The recent attacks on our rights, in particular our right to keep and bear arms, has caused further division and has greatly angered one side. The 49% that didn’t vote for Obama, which would be the latter of the two groups I described, is furious. I speak for most of this group when I say I am not happy in the least with the direction this country is headed. Those in power need to understand that they work for us, not the other way around.
Now there have been people appearing on various media networks referencing revolution and a new 1776. Truthfully a lot of these people do not represent the majority of conservatives and they are chosen to appear to make them look bad. I personally believe in the idea set forth by the Declaration of Independence. That idea is that when a government becomes destructive in the execution of its role, it is the right and duty of the people to abolish said government and replace it. I’m not saying pick up your rifle and let’s go. That wasn’t our Founders first choice. What I’m saying is that just as the government needs to realize they work for us, we need to remember that they work for us and remind them of that. Write your Senators and Congressmen, I have repeatedly. Write to the President and the political organizations that you think need to change and start listening to us. Grass roots starts with you. Our path to Independence centuries ago was grass roots. Without the individual citizen a country, a cause, an idea is nothing.
A Battle Ensues? I think a serious battle is on the horizon. One that will decide the course of this nation. One that will decide the role of our Constitution in the future. One that will show where we stand as Americans. Will you sit back and watch from afar? Will you be in the thick of it? Or will you, in apathy, leave the fight to others and hope for the best? The battle is here and it’s time to choose.
Thank you for reading. God bless all of you and God bless the United States of America.
