The recent WikiLeaks cable dissemination has garnered strong reactions from government officials. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the leaks "an attack on the international community." Rep. Peter King of Long Island called for the organization to be labeled terrorists. Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum went further and said that the Obama administration was to blame for not preventing the release of the documents.
What this country's politicians are missing is the fact that your average American has been subject to the same kind of scrutiny and invasion of privacy that the upper echelons of government are now experiencing. Since 9/11 Americans' privacy has been quickly eroded with little more than a peep from the populace, yet we are expected to be outraged that the government is now going through the same thing?
On October 26, 2001, George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act into law, codifying numerous privacy-depleting measures. Among other things, the act allowed the government to spy on U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens alike, whereas before it was only the latter that was subject to this clandestine surveillance. It eased procedures to tap into emails and voicemails of citizens and it allowed "roving wiretaps." We were told that it was for our safety and that it would be used professionally and responsibly.
Needless to say the law was abused. Again. And again. And again. Don't expect things to get any better, either, as the only Senator with the gastrointestinal fortitude to stand up to this blatant disregard for Americans' rights lost his re-election bid in November.
Unfortunately it does not end with the Patriot Act. Think about your airport experience post-9/11. If you want a bottle of water you have to pay the shamelessly gauged price once you go through security because explosives can come in liquid form. You have to take your shoes off at the security checkpoint because a bomb can be put in shoes. Now, you have to get sexually assaulted by a TSA employee or provide naked pictures of yourself before you board a plane because you can put explosives in your underwear. We're one step away from cavity searches, given that you can put explosives in your rear. Don't think that this will be limited to airports, either. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano recently indicated that mass transit could be the next mode of transportation to receive these invasive screening techniques.
As American citizens we have no recourse. You may not be able to sue your telecommunications company for complying with illegal wiretaps during the Bush administration because the Obama administration wants all suits against these companies dismissed out of hand. If you don't want your unmentionables manhandled by a TSA employee, you can't fly.
So it should go without saying that many Americans have been living with the possibility that all of their personal calls, emails and files could, at any point, be confiscated by the government for little or no reason. Yet when the American government goes through the same humiliation and transparency the perpetrators are terrorists and should be prosecuted. As blogger Evgeny Morozov said, "WikiLeaks is what happens when the entire US government is forced to go through a full-body scanner." The government wants to complain about this erosion of privacy? Get in line.
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Another fact that should be known about our "law enforcement". The U.S. has 5% of the world's population, and 25% of the world's prison population, beating out Russia by a large margin. Is there truly a criminal lurking around every corner in the U.S., as they have you believe, or does this say something about the direction this nation is heading?
The boomerang effect in action.
For a clever little response to being scanned check out this website:
http://cargocollective.com/4thamendment
1. More research on technological tools against terrorism
2. Safer country obviously
3. Researching of the core or base of terrorist activities.
4. Advancement in security.
Although we have our privacy invaded and there are cases of suspects that the US have taken, there is no fault in the law because it is for our security. Maybe it is the US's fault that terrorism has taken over the country, but we need tight control.
Truly
Evidently YOU need tight control but please don't throw around the "WE" pronoun. I sir value my liberty above all else.
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." --Benjamin Franklin
And after all of the Patriot Act abuses, are we all really ready to blindly accept that the government will not abuse this tactic?
Some TSA employees apparently think it's funny stuff: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/jokes_about_tsa_scanner_package_r07BeUPwveXGc53E6KuWYL
The constitution is ignored is the least. From Supreme Court, Administration, Legislators, Military and Police Departments, none are protecting the constitution they've taken an oath to protect. Not only in Washington, look how some states are criminalizing videoing arrests for our own protection and assurance no rights are violated.
I disagree "we are past the point of no return," however. The first three words of the Preamble gave We The People the control over the governors. All we have to do is organize, show specific violations of all groups and recall congress and replace them with people the people chose, instead of parties who then require their allegiance to their platforms and not the people's, have the new congress to impeach the president replacing him with someone ensuring "faithful execution of the laws" (Article 2:3) and he will eliminate Generals and Justices to maintain his position.
Encourage everyone you know to go to change.org and search for the petition "Eliminate Capitalistic-Military Regime" and sign it, it goes to both state senators and your specific representative. Give them enough time to do what is required and recall senators and representatives and require those replacing them to do what the petition require.
If we allow The People to take up arms against the government, we loose, they declare Marshal Law and impose the Patriot Act loosing all. Take action now or loose our Constitutional control over the governors.
The 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th 9th & 10th Amendments especially.
Anywho, I'm with this blogger who finds it all quite unexciting - http://freedomnetwork.blog.com/2010/11/29/the-complete-idiots-guide-to-wikileaks-latest-document-dump/
And the government is not posting your emails for everyone to read, but if they wanted to there is little, if anything, in the law to stop them.
The government took away many civil liberties that protected citizens' privacy, yet when it happens to them the perpetrators are terrorists? It just doesn't add up.