When Clint Eastwood stood on stage at the Republican National Convention
and spoke to "the chair" about a Vision for America...I didn't know the chair
had about as many Constitutional Rights as we do.
In the name of 9/11, if we are suspected of being a potential threat to this country
we can both be spied on without a warrant - held indefinitely without being charged
- tortured through a variety of "enhanced interrogation techniques" - and not
be subject to a trial by our peers.
After Clint's speech the "chair's" rights were further violated when it was returned
to Governor Christie. Being under him for the next 3 hours is certainly the definition
of "cruel and unusual punishment."
While the chair has the weight of the world as it's problem. "Our "Rights" are being
stepped on by the other 300 lb gorilla...the United States Government!
This week the Senate has refused to pass an amended FISA bill that restores our Constitutional Protections and Privacy Rights if the government cannot show any cause or justification for wanting to violate them in the first place.
No more checks and balances. No more asking a judge for approval and no longer holding the government to any form of accountability...simply suspect - spy - and arrest!
This process has less protection than John Boehner's tan on a hot sunny day!
Where are my right wing action heroes when I need them...Clint Eastwood, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger...you get more riled up at a Planet Hollywood opening, than watching your Constitution become a side order on the back of the menu.
Fear maybe an excuse at times for our irrational and ardent defense of the 2nd amendment...but we cannot allow that very same fear to be used to suspend all of our other inalienable rights.
We can overcome the J. Edgar Hoovers, the Japanese Interment Camps, McCarthyism, The Black Lists, The Watergates and Iran Contra...but we cannot overcome the legalization of these violations - the institutionalization of a government run by fear - the acceptance of a culture that will take away our freedoms...from ourselves!
In our free society, transparancy needs to be our 4th branch of government...and I bet I could get any court in the land to...sign off on that!