"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." - Benjamin Franklin
My U.S. friends and countrymen I have a troubling concern:
I am not in the U.S. to see first person the media's portrayal or rationalization for the manhunt of the 2nd Boston marathon bombing suspect. I understand that this act of terrorism was intense and a terrible experience; the public loss of life and the maiming of our brothers and sisters is pure evil and NEVER acceptable.
My deepest thoughts, prayers and condolences are with all of those who experienced loss and are suffering.
However, as a Constitutionalist, I keep thinking about the overwhelming government and law enforcement response we all witnessed unfold after the bombs exploded. Mine will NOT be a popular opinion; some of you will get pissed off at me but the majority of you will certainly come to understand my point of view (if not now, over the course of a few weeks)...
*The response was over-reaching and unconstitutional.*
Since when is it OK to limit the movement of innocent civilians, shut down communication, detain citizens without probable cause and conduct armed, warrantless house to house searches? They prohibited commerce to the tune of an estimated billion dollars, froze wages and disrupted lives through the blanket closing of businesses and the complete shut down of travel.
Today cop cars and law enforcement officers... tomorrow Department of Homeland Security armored personnel carriers and soldiers.
Where do we draw the line??? The color of the uniform?
Soon they will be going house to house looking for your guns under the guise of protecting the 6 adults and 20 children of Sandy Hook Elementary.
In all of the previous terrorist acts committed in the United States we have not witnessed such an overwhelming law enforcement response despite the fact that we lost 3 people compared to dozens, hundreds and thousands in previous acts.
At what point do we say, "STOP! YOU CANNOT TRAMPLE ON MY CIVIL LIBERTIES AND THE RIGHTS I AM GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES IN YOUR SEARCH FOR ONE MAN WHO KILLED [Insert death toll here] PEOPLE."
When we give an inch, they take a mile. Liberty lost cannot be regained without struggle.
Again NOT popular, but I was extremely proud of the men and women that worked tirelessly to save that scumbag's life... it would be easy to let him die and bypass the complexities and costs of a proper trial, but in the United States we believe that all accused are innocent until PROVEN guilty in a court of law. This person, who I am convinced is 100% guilty of this act of terrorism, is still presumed innocent and, as Americans, when did we start to let innocent people bleed to death without trying to save them? Never. They did the right thing in saving his life. That is the America I know, love and believe in, regardless of how unpopular that opinion might be. (Now I hope he has a just trial and a swift death.)
Please understand friends and patriots, the fundamentals of our freedom and the liberties guaranteed by our birth in the United States of America have been eroding for many years now. Those who would see fit to do just that use these previously unimaginable tragedies to accomplish their goals but we must push back and adamantly defend our inalienable rights as Americans...
Especially in the heat of the moment when it feels "safer" to look the other way.
#ft #liberty #bostonbombing #constitution
Well put Scott, in fact I was commenting the same thing to my lovely wife yesterday. I understand completely that this suspected criminal needed to be caught. But at what price?
ReplyDeleteLuckily the 'lockdown' only lasted a few hours. But what about next time? And how is that determination set? What is the bar that a criminal must pass to initiate a complete lockdown of a half million people. Let me repeat that.... one HALF MILLION citizens were denied the right to leave their homes.
I see that tonight there were shots fired at a marijuana rally in Denver Colorado. Will they lockdown Denver too?
I believe that praise needs to be heaped on all the law enforcement agents that apprehended the suspect so quickly. But we also need to smack the officials that called for and allowed the lockdown a good hearty whack with a newspaper on the nose and remind them of the laws we have in our country and how they are there for a reason.
And that reason is to enable NOT restrict our freedoms.
A few hours, a day, a few days, a few weeks.... you get where I am going here. You obviously understand.
ReplyDeleteThe price is ZERO, as in my rights are not up for sale at any price.
Like you, I highly praise law enforcement for their bravery and commitment but at the end of the day it was an ordinary citizen concerned about his boat that found the suspect. That's how most of these things pan out.