Our Fading Rights
Since when did our government(s) retain the right to monitor our every doing? As far as I know, our right to be free of state sponsored monitoring is not an explicit right granted under the constitution, unless we lump it under the so-called 'right of privacy', that is in itself a derived and interpreted right, not an explicit one. Someone (rich, assumably- in order to finance the legal battle) will have to step up to the plate and start fighting against the in-roads the government has been making on our right to do as we please, without having our movements, likes, dislikes, habits, shopping preferences, library book choices, etc. recorded, logged, archived, taped, tracked etc.
I must admit to being a bit of a libertarian, though I belong to no political party. Perhaps this will help you understand where I'm coming from. I believe in the rights of the PEOPLE first, with the government coming in fourth or fifth place, somewhere behind dogs or fungi. But I think in this day and age, it's all flipped around. The government runs almost everyting and the power of the people to conduct their lives as THEY see fit has become a secondary or tertiary concern.
Some of the examples I wish to provide may make you a bit squemish, because they make me a bit squemish too. Nevertheless, I still believe the people's rights count for more than the government's wishes.
1. Child Molesters/Sexual Predators. I'm not sure what the difference is, but supposedly someone does. First, let me say I think they should NEVER be let out of jail, but that is not the law. Until we decide to incarcerate these people indefinitely or impose the death penalty on them (which I recently heard one state is considering), we should walk the walk where these people are concerned. GPS tracking devices? Internet listings along with their pictures and other private information? Being forced to go door to door to their neighbors to tell them their criminal history? Restrictions on where they can live (not close to schools, parks)? WOW!! Does this sound like America to you? It doesn't to me, in fact, it sounds down-right Orwellian to me.
Until we decide on longer, harsher penalties, these folks, unfortunately, HAVE THE RIGHT, once their debt to society is payed, under law, to be citizens once again. If our constitution applies to visitors from other countries while they walk on our soil, then it applies to citizens who have broken the law and payed the price too. You may think I don't care about the children, or that I don't know anything about the rates at which predators re-offend. Wrong on both counts. I am talking about American's rights here, not making moral judgements about them or the law that lets these freaks out of jail with their gonads in tact.
2. No Warrant Wire Tapping. There's been a load of slanted reporting on this from both sides, so I can hardly add to or mediate such a contentious debate, so no matter how you feel about it personally or politically, if one reads the letter of the law, these are inexcusable crimes for which prison time/impeachment is the only logical, legal response.
3. Data Mining. There have been loads of reports of how the government is compiling data from people's personal business, information, medical records, etc, (some hatched by paranoid liberals and conspiracy theorists no doubt) many of which may be false, others of which may be true. This is a dark tunnel that stinks and frankly scares the hell out of me, and here I am, without my Starglass Phial.
4. Monetary Wire Transfer Monitoring. Dubya can condemn all the newspapers (NYT) he wants. It doesn't change the fact that what he ordered is just plain illegal. I understand his desire to protect the country, I think I understand at least that much about the man, but his willingness to listen to lousy, terrible advice to break the law and destroy citizen's rights in the process is an impeachable offense.
5. Video Surveillance. It's said that in Britain, over 90% of the population is recorded by at least one video camera at least once per day (Smile Winston! And touch your toes!). I imagine that we here in the US are not far behind that. Make all the arguments you want about how much good they do in catching criminals, detering crime, finding lost kids, etc., the whole scenario just gives me a twitching case of the Orwellian creeps.
I'm quite sure I could think of a lot more examples of how our government is making their priorities override our constitutional rights, but frankly the thought of it all is making me ill.
I'm going to go puke now.
Then I'm going to reconsider moving back to Espana.
I must admit to being a bit of a libertarian, though I belong to no political party. Perhaps this will help you understand where I'm coming from. I believe in the rights of the PEOPLE first, with the government coming in fourth or fifth place, somewhere behind dogs or fungi. But I think in this day and age, it's all flipped around. The government runs almost everyting and the power of the people to conduct their lives as THEY see fit has become a secondary or tertiary concern.
Some of the examples I wish to provide may make you a bit squemish, because they make me a bit squemish too. Nevertheless, I still believe the people's rights count for more than the government's wishes.
1. Child Molesters/Sexual Predators. I'm not sure what the difference is, but supposedly someone does. First, let me say I think they should NEVER be let out of jail, but that is not the law. Until we decide to incarcerate these people indefinitely or impose the death penalty on them (which I recently heard one state is considering), we should walk the walk where these people are concerned. GPS tracking devices? Internet listings along with their pictures and other private information? Being forced to go door to door to their neighbors to tell them their criminal history? Restrictions on where they can live (not close to schools, parks)? WOW!! Does this sound like America to you? It doesn't to me, in fact, it sounds down-right Orwellian to me.
Until we decide on longer, harsher penalties, these folks, unfortunately, HAVE THE RIGHT, once their debt to society is payed, under law, to be citizens once again. If our constitution applies to visitors from other countries while they walk on our soil, then it applies to citizens who have broken the law and payed the price too. You may think I don't care about the children, or that I don't know anything about the rates at which predators re-offend. Wrong on both counts. I am talking about American's rights here, not making moral judgements about them or the law that lets these freaks out of jail with their gonads in tact.
2. No Warrant Wire Tapping. There's been a load of slanted reporting on this from both sides, so I can hardly add to or mediate such a contentious debate, so no matter how you feel about it personally or politically, if one reads the letter of the law, these are inexcusable crimes for which prison time/impeachment is the only logical, legal response.
3. Data Mining. There have been loads of reports of how the government is compiling data from people's personal business, information, medical records, etc, (some hatched by paranoid liberals and conspiracy theorists no doubt) many of which may be false, others of which may be true. This is a dark tunnel that stinks and frankly scares the hell out of me, and here I am, without my Starglass Phial.
4. Monetary Wire Transfer Monitoring. Dubya can condemn all the newspapers (NYT) he wants. It doesn't change the fact that what he ordered is just plain illegal. I understand his desire to protect the country, I think I understand at least that much about the man, but his willingness to listen to lousy, terrible advice to break the law and destroy citizen's rights in the process is an impeachable offense.
5. Video Surveillance. It's said that in Britain, over 90% of the population is recorded by at least one video camera at least once per day (Smile Winston! And touch your toes!). I imagine that we here in the US are not far behind that. Make all the arguments you want about how much good they do in catching criminals, detering crime, finding lost kids, etc., the whole scenario just gives me a twitching case of the Orwellian creeps.
I'm quite sure I could think of a lot more examples of how our government is making their priorities override our constitutional rights, but frankly the thought of it all is making me ill.
I'm going to go puke now.
Then I'm going to reconsider moving back to Espana.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home