The Slippery Slope
December
22, 2005
Driving
down the road the other day, searching on my car radio for a station reporting
weather conditions as it was raining out and freezing at the same time, I came
across Tony Snow discussing with a female guest the recent revelation that
President Bush had authorized the National Security Agency (NSA)
to eavesdrop on American citizens post-9/11. Snow and his female guest saw no problem with
this, claiming that conservatives support their president.
First of
all, no true conservative would ever support President Bush’s actions. Not in a million years. Neo-cons, people who claim to be conservative
but aren’t — and those falling into the category of the controlled opposition,
now that’s a different story.
People
like Tony Snow who think President Bush’s actions are somehow justified in the
name of keeping the American people “safe” in post-9/11 America are naïve and
display a decided lack of historical perspective.
All the
American people need do, to see how preposterous this claim is, is to look
north and look south, at the open borders to Canada and Mexico. In so doing, it is obvious the American
people are no safer today than they were on or before 9/11.
Crossing
the border from Canada and Mexico into the United States are thousands of
illegal aliens, on a daily basis. No one
is screening those illegal aliens; no one, including the Border Patrol and U.S.
Immigration, knows how many criminals and terrorists are among those who have
crossed those open borders.
Almost
daily now, we hear of yet another illegal alien arrested for committing a crime
in the United States. Most of these
crimes are not petty crimes but fall in the realm of brutal homicide. It is ignorant to believe, given the number
of illegal alien criminals who have crossed the open borders, that terrorists
have not entered this country in the same manner.
It was
not long ago that three terrorists were actually caught trying to cross
illegally from Mexico into the United States.
We didn’t hear about it on the main-stream media. We had to learn of it through internet
sources other than the main-stream media.
Why was that? Why didn’t the
mainstream media report on those three terrorists caught at the border with
Mexico?
Could it
be because such would obviously clue the American people to the fact that the
Patriot Act is not a law to protect the American people but another law to take
away the rights and freedoms of the American people?
It would
appear so. Repeatedly we hear the
mainstream media inserting the clip in the local media broadcast from some
airline passenger gushing about how the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) screeners are there, and they don’t mind the
inconvenience of being searched and having their luggage searched, so they will
be “safe.” These people delude
themselves in the face of the reality that the TSA
screeners themselves have been shown sorely lacking in the integrity
department.
Granted
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. However when the preventative measures
infringe on the rights of law-abiding Americans, they are not preventive; they
move America one step closer to a police state.
In the
words of John Locke, “The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to
preserve and enlarge freedom.”
This
should be the measuring stick of every law passed in this country — does it
preserve and enlarge freedom or does it abolish or restrain the rights of
law-abiding citizens?
Quite
obviously, the Patriot Act and all the rest of the “measures to ensure our
safety” in post-9/11 America fall into the category of abolishing and restraining
— to take away the rights and freedoms of the law-abiding American citizens.
But
Americans have been desensitized to the lose of their rights — gradually people
have become inured to the idea that the government will take care of their
every need, keep them safe, that the government is there in their best
interests. The list of laws falling into
this genre is too long to list.
Prior to
9/11, even 100 years ago, America had the mechanism needed to deal with any
terrorist entering or committing crimes in this country. That mechanism is called rule by law.
But when
we have a judicial system that is not about rule by law but about rule by man
according to his own passions and prejudices (democracy), the result is what we
are seeing: more and more laws intended
to keep people “safe” but that, in reality, further infringe on the rights and
freedom of law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to impede the
criminal. Whatever the intent, such laws
have placed America on the slippery slope to a police state.
Now we
have President Bush adamantly and angrily proclaiming his right to authorize
illegal wire taps of American citizens in the name of “safety.” Ask yourself this — if Bush can do this
today, in the name of keeping Americans safe, what can and will he do
tomorrow?
Absolute
power corrupts absolutely. Trying to
justify Bush’s actions in the name of keeping Americans safe is not only
ignorant and misplaced, but dangerous.
What
follows is an e-mail sent to President Bush, cc’d to
my Washington State Senators and Representative. It is our duty to let our voices be heard.
Cc: Senator Patty Murray, Senator Maria Cantwell,
Representative Cathy McMorris
Dear President Bush,
As we near the day we celebrate
the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, claims that you are a born-again
Christian somehow wring hollow. What Christian would make the remarks
concerning the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights that you have reportedly
made? The Constitution of the United States is not simply a piece of
paper, this was a document hotly debated by very learned men; that was
constructed to ensure the American people the greatest amount of freedom to
govern themselves. The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights came out of
the blood of those who fought and died to end the tyranny of England.
If, as it has been reported,
you spoke of this founding document in such disparaging terms, such in my mind
is an act of treason.
I find it commendable that you
finally owned up to going into Iraq waving the flag of false pretenses.
Saddam Hussein is a dictator? That doesn’t fall within your jurisdiction,
President Bush. America had and has no business in Iraq. If the Iraqi
people did not like Saddam Hussein it was their place to get rid of him, not
ours. We have no business in Iraq and you had no business sending
American troops into that country. Now that we are there you have no
qualms about the lives lost there in the name of saving face; your face.
You speak of the “safety of
America”. You insult our intelligence, Mr President. The American
people are watching as illegal aliens of every sort and description, criminals
and terrorists included, cross our open borders, north and south, on a daily
basis. Yet you have done nothing meaningful to staunch the flow. If
you have no credibility when it comes to speaking of safety in post-9/11
America, you need look no further than the mirror. If more Americans die
because you have failed to secure our borders, the fault is yours and yours
alone.
Last week it was disclosed that
you have allowed the unauthorized wire tapping of American citizens. You
say this is for “our safety.” Again, Mr President, those open borders
belie that claim.
We need the Patriot Act to
protect our freedoms? No we don’t. The Patriot Act hasn’t and won’t
stop one terrorist from crossing those open borders — north or south. All
the Patriot Act does is stomp on the rights of law-abiding American citizens.
Personally, Mr President, I
find your actions with regard to 9/11, Iraq, the borders, the wire taps,
personally offensive. History has repeatedly demonstrated that a people
willing to give up their rights for security will, in the end, lose both.
Our country is not safer, for
all the speechifying and anger coming out of your office, than it was on or
before 9/11. Our country is, however, a whole lot closer to a police
state.
If you are the Christian you
proclaim to be, it would behoove you to spend a lot more time on your knees
seeking God’s guidance and forgiveness.
Sincerely,
Lynn M Stuter
Washington State
© 2005
Lynn M Stuter – All Rights Reserved