There has been much discussion concerning the Rand Paul 13 hour filibuster. It was called silly by some pundits, and heroic by others. No matter what your particular take on matters happens to be, you have to admit that the reaction by the current Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, was to say the least bizarre. Holder, with his measured non answer, stumbling and stuttering his way through a rambling string of words which at the very least lacked any sort of coherency, was careful never to admit that the President of the United States should somehow be constrained by the checks and balances system inherent in our Constitutional form of governance. This moment in time established itself as one of the most frightening moments of the last five years, at least for me. Bear in mind that this includes the visions of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, The Sudan, and most of North Africa in general being razed to the ground by the Muslim Brotherhood, aided of course by us.
Remember, Paul did not go after drone strikes on foreign soil against U.S. citizens identified as enemy combatants, but after drone strikes within our borders against U.S. Citizens not identified as having done anything of the sort. Holder, our top cop, would not give the answer no, our President does not have that authority. with that in mind, please remember that we’ve lightly touched on drones before, although not in much depth. Drones you see, have found applications beyond the simple military uses. Almost every government agency now has use of them, and not just those responsible for law enforcement. The EPA uses drones to scope out mud puddles that can be termed or designated, “wetlands.” Our Department of Interior uses drones to scope out industrial sites for the purposes of creating new regulations to further interpret the Clean Air Act, the Navigable Waterways Act, and the Endangered Species Act. We live in an electronic age, and not a whole lot we do anymore can be kept a secret.
Before you give me the, “Big Brother,” brush off, which a year ago I would have done to me as well, have a peek at this video. Bear in mind that it was produced as a brag video, by the people who plan on spying on the rest of us. Of course that was never part of the context of the brag piece, but note that Argus is being used in this instance to record the entire city of Quantico, Virginia.
Interestingly enough, our founding fathers had the foresight to address this very issue within that part of our Constitution known as the, “Bill of Rights.”
Amendment IV.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation,
and particularly describing the place to be searched,
and the persons or things to be seized.
The other night I happened to catch an episode of NCIS, which I believe to have been a few years old. In it, the Navy Cops were able to solve the crime against humanity of the week by retrieving video footage from multiple security cameras, which apparently are everywhere, always watching, from every conceivable angle and location in every American City. I felt this to be a little more than creepy. Hollywood, getting us used to this type of constant surveillance, because without having our government constantly spying on us you see, we are all in serious danger of violent thugs running amok.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin
Rand Paul, no matter what you believe of him personally, is the only law maker so far who is willing to address this issue, and willing to do so while risking his own personal reputation. Where Rand Paul dropped the ball a bit was in focusing in on the concept of using drones solely for execution, and not for the equally objectionable usage of domestic spying. Even under the Patriot Act, and I fully understand the objections to that as well, our government is forced to seek warrants from a special judge for the activities that constitute domestic spying, albeit ex post facto in most circumstances. With the drone program, no such requirement exists, nor would it ever be feasible in the first place. A warrant to spy on an entire city continuously could in no way be justified sufficiently to any judge who had brain activity beyond that of vegetation. The government’s use of drones beyond defense usage is very obviously wrong, and more than a little creepy.
I could even get on board with certain very specific uses based on issued warrants for limited application by law enforcement, but having the government simply decide to track an entire city, because our technology now allows for that to be the reality of life in America, goes against everything that America Stands for, or at least what America used to stand for. Our entire founding principle is based on a government limited to certain enumerated powers. According to the Tenth Amendment to our Constitution, they are very specifically prohibited from stepping one toe beyond those very narrowly defined parameters, at least in terms of exercising any authority.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution,
nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to
the States respectively, or to the people.
Rand Paul is right. He may not know or understand the full scope of how right he is, but that does not change the fact that he is right. As we face an era where our elected leaders feel increasingly comfortable in how brazenly they choose to intrude themselves into our daily lives, we better start paying attention very quickly to what’s going on. This particular bit of intrusion has the potential to trump all other ills being performed by the political left. And once again, I would just like to point out to those who believe this to be nothing worth getting worked up over because Barack Obama is just the most benevolent and bestest champion of the little guy that has ever been, by allowing this to take hold, you have also placed your blind trust in all those who follow Barack into the White House. Such is the danger in a form of governance that depends upon the benevolence of those chosen to run it. All that is required for it to become the nightmare rather than the dream is that one person who is not quite so benevolent as society requires.
Cross Posted from Musings of a Mad Conservative.
