And more voices cried out and were silenced
There are four boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury and ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
Our failing system of democracy was dealt another blow today.. The only way to prove you were affected by the NSA wiretapping is to be affected. The fact you were affected is something you can’t prove even when you are affected because the fact that you were affected is now to remain a state secret.
Nice.
Why is it that the same exact laws the Federal Government passed when Nixon was accused of wiretapping one office are now ignored, when it comes to the unsupervised wiretapping of 280 million US Citizens?
First, Bush and the NSA denied there was any wiretapping going on. When they were caught in a lie, they immediately claimed that any information related to the non-existant wiretapping program, were state secrets.
From the article:
A divided three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled today that the lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and a group of journalists, lawyers and academics, be sent back to a district court judge to be dismissed.
In August 2006, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan ruled the NSA program, which monitored telephone and Internet communications without court-ordered warrants, was illegal.
It is at this point, I must requote the definition of Liberalism:
Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. A liberal society is characterized by freedom of thought for individuals, limitations on power, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market economy, free private enterprise, and a transparent system of government in which the rights of all citizens are protected.
And from a post on Slashdot discussing this travesty:
The government no longer answers to the citizens, according the the system we set up to run it. It’s a very short, swift step from where we are to where ordinary citizens disappear in the night (non-Muslims, that is).
We won’t know exactly when that moment arrives, because we won’t be told, because no one in the government obeys or enforces the law anymore.
Another random snippet discussing this ruling:
“This stuff is so super secret that we can’t even show 8 members of Congress with top level security clearances what we are doing. The fact that we are legally mandated to advise them & we can only perform these operations under their oversight is irrelevant.”
There seems to be this misconception in the current government that they make up the laws that we follow, and they tell us what to do, and we do them. When we don’t obey, we’re seen as traitors or terrorists, and scared into submission (or those held captive, uncharged, in Guantanamo).
Let me restate, as I have many times before… this Government can, and will be replaced. There are 280 million of us, and not nearly as many of you. We’re armed, we’re strong, and when the cause it right, we WILL unite and fight for what is right.
Are you hearing this? WE are the Government, not you, and if you are not representing what WE believe to be OUR best interests, you will be voted out. If you rig the voting system (as has been done in the last two “elections”), we’ll replace you by other means.