Today we will focus on the subtle and not so subtle ways the Obama administration and others in government have directly or indirectly continued this sorry tradition of restricting liberty in America. In my lifetime, I do not believe I have lived through any Presidential administration, including Nixon's, that has had such a distaste for our freedom:
- The most obvious imposition on freedom by the Obama administration is the extension of the Patriot Act, which was originally enacted into law under the Bush administration. One would have hoped that this anti-liberty legislation would not be renewed or at least have additional safeguards incorporated into it's renewal to ensure innocent Americans did not have their rights trampled on by increased police and judicial powers. That did not happen, the law was renewed with little debate.
- Judicial Watch reported on October 4, 2011 that Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced legislation that would keep President Obama's Presidential records secret after he leaves office. This obviously raises the suspicion of what is being hidden or kept secret. Does the secrecy protect illegal activity? Does it cover up unconstitutional or freedom restricting activities? Secret government actions rarely increase liberties in the country.
There are two ironic twists to this action. A similar secrecy effort was enacted by executive order during the Bush administration to severely limit public access to the Bush Presidential records and documents. Shortly after Obama took office, he rescinded the executive order to give the American people greater access to "historic documents." Thus, it was good not to keep secrets in 2009 but is good to keep secrets just two years later in 2011.
The second piece of irony is that Obama promised that he would have one of the most transparent administrations ever. Now, three years into his Presidency, he wants to have complete control over all of his administration's documents and who has access to those documents. Not exactly fulfilling that promise of "access to historic documents." Again, control and secrecy are rarely compatible with liberty.
- The most famous phrase from our founding documents was that Americans were entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." A new, secret government process not only can arbitrarily take away a citizen's liberty but also his life. According to an article from Reuters that appeared on October 5, 2011, there is a secret government panel of senior government officials which determine which Americans are to be placed on a U.S. government kill list.
This secret panel came to light with the U.S. drone attack and killing of American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen that has been planning terrorist attacks on American interests from his haven in Yemen for years. Awlaki was obviously a bad guy, one that wanted to kill as many Americans as possible. However, 1) he was still an American citizen, 2) he had never been proven guilty of any crime in a U.S. court, and 3) he was never given a chance to turn himself in to face charges.
But all of these facts were discarded when this panel decided this American should die. According to the article, this panel can put an American on a kill list without consulting the President. While the President could subsequently override the panel's decision, the others on the panel "are principally responsible for nominating Americans for the target list to 'protect' the President."
This is really scary stuff. Once you have targeted the first American to be killed without due process, it becomes easier to target the second American, the third American, etc. It is a very, very slippery slope. Adding to the danger is the fact that the Obama administration will not release the legal documents that his administration drew up to justify killing an American. Thus, not only does a formal government function to kill Americans exist but that process thinks it does not even have to justify the legality of such behavior.
As it gets easier to put more and more Americans on this kill list, where does it stop? If the legal reason for being put on the list is a secret, who is to say that the politicians in office abuse this panel to suppress their potential political opponents? A very scary, freedom robbing process that leaves the country and its citizens' freedoms and lives at the mercy of secret government panels.
- Speaking of scary and secret government operations, consider an August 24, 2011 article from the Associated Press that was titled "With CIA Help, NYPD moves Covertly in Muslim Areas." By law, the CIA is prohibited from operating within the confines of the United States.
But according to the article, the CIA has provided CIA personnel to the New York City Police Department to infiltrate ethnic communities in New York to collect intelligence that MIGHT lead to the discovery of terrorist activities. We will do more on this project at a later date but this is again a slippery slope situation. If the CIA is not legally allowed to conduct operations in the states but this project is allowed to happen, what happened to the rule of law in this country?
And just like the kill list discussed above, who is to say that the political class will not at some point in time turn the CIA loose on its political enemies, within the boundaries of the country, under the false guise of national security? Kill lists, infiltrating neighborhoods, breaking existing law, this smacks of the Orwell playbook from the novel, "1984."
- But freedom can be reduced by much simpler means beyond leveraging the CIA and implementing kill lists. A Wisconsin judge, Circuit Court Judge Patrick Fielder, recently ruled that American citizens "do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow."
It seems two families in Wisconsin each owned a cow that they boarded at a farm and they used their cows to produce milk for their own households. They did not sell their cows' milk to other people nor did they give it away. They used it for their own families' consumption only. However, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection sued them over their families' milk habits.
Apparently, the state of Wisconsin was concerned that drinking unprocessed milk directly from their own cows could result in disease. However, shouldn't an American have the freedom to take the risk of drinking their own cow's milk without government intervention? They did not distribute the unprocessed milk to anyone else. They should have the right to put whatever they want into their own bodies, the government via the judicial system, should not take away that risk or, more importantly, that freedom.
Slippery slope, agriculture wise. Who is to say that some other judge or politician might decide that Americans cannot eat food from their family gardens because it might make them sick? This would force Americans to buy products from others even if they did not want to or need to do so.
Oh, I forgot that is the underpinning of Obama Care where the government will force everyone to purchase health care insurance regardless of their health needs and financial situation. Forcing people to buy things they do not want or need or controlling what goes into their bodies is never consistent with liberty.
So, let's review what our government can do to restrict our freedoms today:
- They can put us on a kill list without due process of law and don't need to provide legal justification for doing so.
- They can put government and Presidential documents and records under permanent lock and key with only the political class determining what information is released.
- They can illegally use CIA resources to spy on ethnic neighborhoods and on American citizens.
- They can leverage the freedom robbing aspects of the Patriot Act with virtually no controls.
- They can force people to eat certain foods and buy certain products and services.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available, at http://www.loathemygovernment.com/. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.loathemygovernment.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com/
http://www.flipcongress2010.com/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.repealamendment.com/
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