The Fourth Amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. This probably has different meanings for everyone depending on what is important to them personally. Let’s be honest, we are not concerned about personal liberties and right being taken away if they are not important to us personally. The Fourth Amendment reads as follows:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.”
We now have a situation where the National Security Agency has collected information like individual’s e-mail information without a Warrant. I don’t see the difference from opening and copying your snail mail. The NSA claims this action is justified for two reasons. They say it is necessary for national security against terrorism and secondly they say the information is just collected and will not be used or read without a proper Warrant.
These reasons do not hold up to reasonable scrutiny. If the information is not read or analyzed without a Warrant, why collect it as it can be collected and analyzed after a Warrant is issued. What is the problem? Some people say it might help prevent a terrorist attack, so why not collect it. After all the government says they won’t read it with out a warrant anyway. Is anyone naive enough to think we can trust the government not to use this information for political purposes after the IRS incident?
What really irritates me is we know the profile of most terrorists, but we can’t profile them because that would infringe on their civil liberties. So instead the government infringes on everyone’s constitutional rights.
Benjamin Franklin said; “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.” I think he was right, and people who give up essential liberty will eventually have neither liberty nor safety. Our founding fathers were so smart.
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This phrase is generally credited to Lord Acton in 1887. Too strong a federal government was the number one concern with our founding fathers and I can certainly see why.
Some people say the constitution is outdated and needs to be a “living” document. Personally, I think this is just an excuse for people when it does not fit their political agenda. The Fourth Amendment does not specifically address the Internet, but it does not specifically address your vehicle either. So if we go down this road, where does it stop? Can the government collect all your banking records too? Of course, they wouldn’t look at them without a Warrant. Sorry, bad example as that may be already happening when Obama Care is fully implemented.
We better take a lesson from our founding fathers about the dangers of big government, or we will eventually lose our freedoms and safety to the political elite. Does the political elite really know what is best for us?
All that, but we can't have national ID cards because that would be politically incorrect. It's all too disgusting!
ReplyDeleteThe current government gets whatever it wants and by any means.
"What really irritates me is we know the profile of most terrorists, but we can’t profile them because that would infringe on their civil liberties. "
ReplyDeleteThat is not true. We are profiling Muslim terrorists. We just aren't profiling Muslims in security lines at the airport.
The federal government is implementing John Poindexter's Total Information Awareness program. Check Wiki for a good overview of that. Or read Greenwald regularly. Keep posting on the Bill of Rights issues. I am.