A DELICATE BALANCE....another great Priscilla's Post

Freedom, Security, and Governmental Power

This is about the line drawn between keeping us secure and not impeding our right to be free. It's also about impeding our freedom with regard to issues which have nothing to do with our security.

This is a delicate balance, especially with terrorism afoot. However, who is it whose rights are being impinged upon and why? Will police or other government officials be able to come into our homes, "for the sake of the environment" and check our light bulbs? Our toilets? How far will this go?

We'll be told "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about," but, new laws can be passed, bans can be imposed, you name it, and pretty soon, it's a full blown police state. We can't profile can we, that's against civil rights, right?  But, to avoid profiling and offending Muslims, we can be felt up or scanned in an airport. We're at war, but we're the losers, we are the ones losing our rights.

I can envision scanners everywhere if we say nothing. As we speak, there are video cameras at intersections, malls, stores, and a multitude of public places. It seems we have accepted those with little outcry. It's as if all of us are potential criminals.

The American people are being trained to be subjects, serfs, which is counter to everything our founders envisioned for our people. It's up to us to stand up and say, "no more".

While next to nothing is done about our borders, and immigrants from the Middle East and countries on the terrorist list are now ostensibly free to come here (10 East Indians were apprehended only days ago in one of the round-ups crossing from Mexico into America), it's American citizens who are coming under the government's thumb. I believe we either follow the Constitution or we are at the mercy of our lawmakers and those in political power.

I've never even believed the police had the right to drunk driving checkpoints. I consider those to be a presumption of guilt placed on  citizens who the police have no probable cause to suspect of breaking  the law. But they do it, don't they?


These things are always explained away with "if you haven't broken the law, why should you care?" This is how it starts, and little by little, sooner or later, we're closer to a total police state. Crazy laws are passed all the time. And then of course, we have activist judges, and lawyers who can twist anything to arrive at the result they want.

If we're constantly watched or questioned, they'll get a bad guy now and then that they may not have gotten otherwise, but what will we > have given up? Our freedom. I don't think it's worth that and I fear that's what is going to happen. There is an ever growing encroachment, and it doesn't feel like it's going to stop anytime soon.

Thanks, Pris....it's a very difficult balance but something that needs to be addressed.  So, folks, what are we going to do about it?

Z