Small victories are better than none
Well, the renewal of USAPATRIOT has received at least a temporary setback, but over at lewrockwell.com, Andrew P. Napolitano explains why we still have a large hole to dig out of. And the hounds have been unleashed against the Senators who voted for liberty; the enemies of freedom may yet find a way to renew their assault on Americans in the name of fighting terrorism - and/or they may simply ignore the law if the sunset holds.
How deep is the hole? Napolitano says the feds started digging as early as 1977:
Congress once respected the Fourth Amendment until it began cutting holes in it. Before Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1977, Americans and even non-citizens physically present here enjoyed the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. That Amendment, which was written out of a revulsion to warrants that let British soldiers look for any tangible thing anywhere they chose, specifically requires that the government demonstrate to a judge and the judge specifically find the existence of probable cause of criminal activity on the part of the person whose property the government wishes to search. The Fourth Amendment commands that only a judge can authorize a search warrant.
The attack on our freedom continued all the way through passage of USAPATRIOT and will be permanently enshrined in law if/when the reluctant Senators are turned. How can this happen in the United States of America? Napolitano explains:
"The unfortunate answer to these questions is the inescapable historical truth that those in government – from both parties and with a few courageous exceptions – do not feel constrained by the Constitution. They think they can do whatever they want. They have hired vast teams of government lawyers to twist and torture the plain meaning of the Fourth Amendment to justify their aggrandizement of power to themselves. They vote for legislation they have not read and do not understand. Their only fear is being overruled by judges. In the case of the Patriot Act, they should be afraid. The federal judges who have published opinions on the challenges to it have all found it constitutionally flawed."
The article is must reading. Another Napolitano work worth reviewing is over at the Federal Observer, recounting his fight against the Clinton administration's assaults on freedom and including a very scary account of Janet Reno's behavior as a Miami prosecutor.
Meanwhile, back in the blogosphere ... a number of musings have appeared in recent days about the nature of freedom on an individual level, and the theme is that liberty is not an external thing that can be granted or taken away by governments, but rather a frame of mind. Just as "you are as old as you feel," so "you are as free as you believe."
Over at "Human Advancement," a new blog to me, author Kyle (can't find his last name, sorry) writes real freedom from the state can only happen within:
"Once that private freedom is achieved, no revolution or anything else outside of yourself will really change anything that counts. The real revolution will already have been won, elections won't matter, avoidance will be superfluous, and defiance will no longer be an overt act, it will simply mean that it never crosses your mind to comply."
It's fascinating, because I've been trying to put similar thoughts together for quite a few days. So, apparently, has Claire Wolfe:
"It's been a week of synchronicities. Of multiple people considentally bearing the same very fundamental messages (often having no idea they're doing so). Of random contacts turning out to be linked in a web of connections. Of signposts all pointing in the same direction."
I think Kyle is on to something profound, something that could move America back towards the right track faster and more completely than any wailing and politicking. To put it far too simplistically, it all comes back, I think, to Patrick McGoohan's Prisoner declaring in no uncertain terms, "I am not a number - I am a free man." I'll continue mulling and get back to you on this.
How deep is the hole? Napolitano says the feds started digging as early as 1977:
Congress once respected the Fourth Amendment until it began cutting holes in it. Before Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1977, Americans and even non-citizens physically present here enjoyed the right to privacy guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. That Amendment, which was written out of a revulsion to warrants that let British soldiers look for any tangible thing anywhere they chose, specifically requires that the government demonstrate to a judge and the judge specifically find the existence of probable cause of criminal activity on the part of the person whose property the government wishes to search. The Fourth Amendment commands that only a judge can authorize a search warrant.
The attack on our freedom continued all the way through passage of USAPATRIOT and will be permanently enshrined in law if/when the reluctant Senators are turned. How can this happen in the United States of America? Napolitano explains:
"The unfortunate answer to these questions is the inescapable historical truth that those in government – from both parties and with a few courageous exceptions – do not feel constrained by the Constitution. They think they can do whatever they want. They have hired vast teams of government lawyers to twist and torture the plain meaning of the Fourth Amendment to justify their aggrandizement of power to themselves. They vote for legislation they have not read and do not understand. Their only fear is being overruled by judges. In the case of the Patriot Act, they should be afraid. The federal judges who have published opinions on the challenges to it have all found it constitutionally flawed."
The article is must reading. Another Napolitano work worth reviewing is over at the Federal Observer, recounting his fight against the Clinton administration's assaults on freedom and including a very scary account of Janet Reno's behavior as a Miami prosecutor.
Meanwhile, back in the blogosphere ... a number of musings have appeared in recent days about the nature of freedom on an individual level, and the theme is that liberty is not an external thing that can be granted or taken away by governments, but rather a frame of mind. Just as "you are as old as you feel," so "you are as free as you believe."
Over at "Human Advancement," a new blog to me, author Kyle (can't find his last name, sorry) writes real freedom from the state can only happen within:
"Once that private freedom is achieved, no revolution or anything else outside of yourself will really change anything that counts. The real revolution will already have been won, elections won't matter, avoidance will be superfluous, and defiance will no longer be an overt act, it will simply mean that it never crosses your mind to comply."
It's fascinating, because I've been trying to put similar thoughts together for quite a few days. So, apparently, has Claire Wolfe:
"It's been a week of synchronicities. Of multiple people considentally bearing the same very fundamental messages (often having no idea they're doing so). Of random contacts turning out to be linked in a web of connections. Of signposts all pointing in the same direction."
I think Kyle is on to something profound, something that could move America back towards the right track faster and more completely than any wailing and politicking. To put it far too simplistically, it all comes back, I think, to Patrick McGoohan's Prisoner declaring in no uncertain terms, "I am not a number - I am a free man." I'll continue mulling and get back to you on this.
posted by B.W. Richardson at
9:10 AM
1 Comments:
The unrelated/related three stories by Kyle Bennett bring together one of the most profound thoughts on individual freedom I have ever read. It is written so simply and clearly yet, it's like a massive lightning bolt illuminating the way on a pitch black night.
I don't think the coincidences Claire speaks about are that at all, or accidents, or random happenstances. I believe that it is a sort of mental telepathy. With so many people thinking so many thoughts and ideas of freedom and liberty, I believe the thoughts and ideas are transporting themselves over land and water to the minds of those that are seeking the same thing.
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