So, we live in America; Land of Liberty! Wow! This is sooooo great! I can't imagine living in a country that wasn't about freedom and liberty. What kind of conditions must they be living under? Well, you do think we enjoy Liberty, right? It's right there in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the National Anthem! Surely, we must have Liberty, right? Well, let's see...
Depending upon your income you pay between 30-60% in taxes (Federal, State, Local, Real Estate, Sales, etc) and fees to the Government. Hmmm, feel a bit more restricted? If you aren't making the kind of money that would require you to pay that level of taxation, you are probably on some form of assistance - from the government. Yep, that's freedom!
The First Amendment gives us the right to free speech. But we are restricted from talking about God or pledging our allegiance to our country in school. All the while other religions can openly pledge their allegiance to their god - anywhere, anytime. It's their "culture"! Yep that's freedom!
The Second Amendment gives us the right to bear arms. But the fees associated with gun ownership, and the restrictions placed upon gun owners, makes this right nearly illusionary. In Chicago you can't leave you house with a weapon - if you're a law abiding citizen. How is that "bearing arms"? Feeling the freedom?
We are required to get licensed to drive, why is that? You might say it's to prove we learned to drive and we proved we could drive safely. OK, so then why aren't we just licensed once - like when we are married? Imagine having to be licensed for marriage every 4 years? Yeah, right! And why do we need our pictures on the license? Why does anyone need to know who we are? Restrictionsssssss!
Let's look at the Fourth Amendment - the right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure. And yet, today, the government - and specifically the FBI - can self-write subpoenas, and if issued, the one recieving it is not allowed to talk about it to anyone! Not their spouse, not their lawyer, not a judge under oath - no one! Seeing a picture yet? Starting to think maybe we aren't quite as 'free' as we thought we were?
Amendment Five, states in pertinent part that no person will be deprived of life without due process - and yet the president has authorized the assassination of Anwar al-Awlaki, a purportedly American-born Islamic cleric - here's a link to the article.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTcyOGQ2MWY5NmRhODFmNGZiNzRjNjJlNzdhNjRmY2U
I tried from several places to access the Washington Post article - it's been scrubbed from the Internet. Interesting. I am certainly not condoning the alleged activity of this nut al-Awlaki, but what happens if Obama, or some other president somewhere in the future, decides you or I pose a problem to America? No due process? Ah, I'm not loving this freedom so much any more.
Amendment Eleven states that the judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit...prosecuted against one of the United States...by subjects of any foreign state. How then is Mexico suing Arizona? Yoo Hoo, Liberty? Where are you?
Amendment Fourteen states that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges...of citizens of the United States. Really? Doesn't almost every law enacted abridge my privileges and yours? How can the government create Hundreds of thousands of laws and not have them abridge our privileges?
We are held hostage to all the effects of political correctness, affirmative action, a mandate, under threat of financial penalty from the government to purchase products we don't want, and now with the new financial reform bill, forced unionism in the boardroom!
No my friends, we do not enjoy the liberty envisioned by our Founders. And while we may still be that "shining beacon on the hill" that calls all who want to live free, at least for the short term anyway, we are not a "free" people. If you think we are because you can go about your own business, more or less 'making a living and a life', you are just deluding yourself.
If you want to change that, get engaged!
If You Are Not Outraged, You Are Not Paying Attention
No comments:
Post a Comment