| A.Melon 2005-11-29, 2:46 am |
| The privacy issue has been around for a long time. The brutal abuse
of privacy and property of early Americans played a big role in our
revolt against the King. The 1st, 4th, and 5th amendments
represented attempts to protect private property and privacy from an
overzealous federal government. Today those attempts appear to have
failed.
There have been serious legal debates in recent decades about
whether “privacy” is protected by the Constitution. Some argue that
since the word does not appear in the text of that document, it is
not protected. Others argue that privacy protection grants the
federal government power to dictate to all states limits or leniency
in enforcing certain laws. But the essence of liberty is privacy.
In recent years—especially since 9-11—Congress has been totally
negligent in its duty to protect U.S. citizens from federal
government encroachment on the rights of privacy. Even prior to 9-
11, the Echelon worldwide surveillance system was well entrenched,
monitoring telephones, faxes, and emails.
From the 1970s forward, national security letters were used
sparingly in circumventing the legal process and search warrant
requirements. Since 9-11 and the subsequent passage of the Patriot
Act, however, use of these instruments has skyrocketed, from 300
annually to over 30,000. There is essentially no oversight nor
understanding by the U.S. Congress of the significance of this
pervasive government surveillance. It’s all shrugged off as
necessary to make us safe from terrorism. Sacrificing personal
liberty and privacy, the majority feels, is not a big deal.
We soon will vote on the conference report reauthorizing the Patriot
Act. Though one could argue there’s been a large grass-roots effort
to discredit the Patriot Act, Congress has ignored the message.
Amazingly, over 391 communities and seven states have passed
resolutions highly critical of the Patriot Act.
The debate in Congress—if that’s what one wants to call it—boils
down to whether the most egregious parts of the Act will be sunseted
after four years or seven. The conference report will adjust the
numbers, and members will vote willingly for the “compromise” and
feel good about their effort to protect individual privacy.
But if we’re honest with ourselves we would admit that the 4th
amendment is essentially a dead letter. There has been no effort to
curb the abuse of national security letters nor to comprehend the
significance of Echelon. Hard-fought liberties are rapidly slipping
away from us.
Congress is not much better when it comes to protecting against the
erosion of the centuries-old habeas corpus doctrine. By declaring
anyone an “enemy combatant”—a totally arbitrary designation by the
President— the government can deny an individual his right to
petition a judge or even speak with an attorney. Though there has
been a good debate on the insanity of our policy of torturing
prisoners, holding foreigners and Americans without charges seems
acceptable to many. Did it never occur to those who condemn torture
that unlimited detention of individuals without a writ of habeas
corpus is itself torture—especially for those who are totally
innocent? Add this to the controversial worldwide network of secret
CIA prisons now known of for 2 years, and we should be asking
ourselves what we have become as a people. Recent evidence that
we’re using white phosphorus chemical weapons in Iraq does nothing
to improve our image.
Our prestige in the world is slipping. The war is going badly. Our
financial system is grossly overburdened. And we spend hundreds of
hours behind the scenes crafting a mere $5 billion spending cut
while pretending no one knows we can spend tens of billions in off-
budget supplemental bills -- sometimes under unanimous consent!
It’s time we reconsider the real purpose of government in a society
that professes to be free—protection of liberty, peaceful commerce,
and keeping itself out of our lives, our economy, our pocketbooks,
and certainly out of the affairs of foreign nations.
Contact Ron Paul at http://www.house.gov/paul/contact.shtml
http://www.sierratimes.com/05/11/18/paul.htm
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The Public Papers of the Presidents, Lyndon B. Johnson 1968, Pg.
195, Item 59, February 7
"We must protect the American people against a new threat to one of
our oldest and most precious rights--the right of personal privacy.
The principle that a man's home is his castle is under new attack.
For centuries the law of trespass protected a man's lands and his
home. But in this age of advanced technology, thick walls and locked
doors cannot guard our privacy or safeguard our personal freedom.
Today we need a strong law-suited to modern conditions--to protect
us (Pg. 196) from those who would trespass upon our conversations."
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