Hi moenmac, good question, and here's one answer
We're the best, but the biggest dangers to the US comes from w/in, not from an external enemy, as has been said many times before
Freedom doesn't seem at risk when the government rushes to monitor and execute "bad guys". The problem is that the secret legal and technical mechanisms being rushed into place can easily be used to monitor you.
That may not concern you, a la "I'm not doing anything wrong, so why worry?", but, personally, I'm another one of those moving more towards the Paranoid stage, when I see things like:
- FBI's "Magic Lantern" virus can insuate into computers automatically, by the millions, to surveil everything you type, with a single rubber-stamp by a judge, who doesn't require any evidence, just a statement by a low-level functionary. NO RESULTS REPORTS ARE NECESSARY. Ridiculous. The excesses of Hoover's FBI in the old days are nothing compared to what they're now allowed to pull off, with no recourse - it's all "legal" to keep their actions secret, now, and forever. Total Bullsh*t. Or are you one of the "trust me, I'm from the Government" crowd?
- With tribunals a citizen of another country can be arrested, tried, and executed, based on 2 of 5 members of a 5 member court. This can be held in secret, with no recourse, no public report, and without even rules of Martial Law under UCMJ. They'll keep this American Taliban guy safe from execution, but the step to executing troublesome US citizens is a bit easier. Sounds hysterical, but get acquainted with the more hysterical law-enforcement types who don't think that's too extreme.
A now-famous 1950's initiative by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff planned attacks on US citizens, to justify an invasion of Cuba. Do you think we are now safe from such insanity? That was spurred by total power, and excessive gov't secrecy. We're heading the wrong direction again.
amazon.com
"The Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government. In the name of anticommunism, they proposed launching a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public "
- Secrecy in government has accelerated to hide the people's right to know what their servants are, and have been, up to. Presidential Papers secrecy act is blatant arse-covering for Reagan, Bush, and Bush, and their crowd. What crimes are they afraid we'll know about? Who knows, but no excuses are acceptable, the spies names' can be "redacted", but the rest is either cover for incompetence or criminality, if history is any guide.
If anything has the power to abort the Constitution, it's the Executive Branch, which has steadily been increasing power to incredible levels. The only thing keeping us from actual fascism is disclosure of government actions in the executive and law enforcement. When gov't actions are kept secret, we're all in trouble. Also.... errr, wait a minute ... there's someone at the door |
