No More King Bush
This week President Bush asked Congress to make permanent a bill that will allow government agencies to perform wiretapping on American citizens without the need for a warrant. It seems the President has forgotten one of the most important parts of the government dreamed up and put in place by the founders of our country: checks and balances. We, the people, through our congressional representative, make the laws which bind not only us, but those that run the government as well. As such, we have created laws which make it necessary for any law enforcement agency to require a judge to approve any request to spy on, or in any way violate the right of privacy of, a citizen of the United States of America. Bush is now trying to remove this “barrier”, making it perfectly legal for his agents to spy on the citizens without judicial oversight. This is the Black Diamond of slippery slopes.
After the collapse of socialist Germany in the early 90’s, the free world was stunned to learn of the amount of documentation that government had held on individual citizens. In the offices of the secret police there were dozens of rooms containing hundreds of cabinets of documentation obtained by spying on the everyday activities of thousand upon thousands of citizens that were not under investigation for any actual crime. The German police were tracking these citizens for the sole purpose of making sure they were behaving as they were told. This is the same thing that is happening now in the United States.
Congress has already allowed this President to perform warrantless wiretapping. While uncomfortable, it wasn’t a surprise based on the mood and panic felt in this country post-9/11. Think, however, what it means that the wiretapping has to be done without court approval. It means the government does not have the evidence required for judicial approval. It means the agents of this government are obtaining and storing information on citizens that have done nothing wrong. They are violating the Privacy Act, a law put in place by us to protect ourselves and our freedom, for no other reason than because they think these citizens might be doing something the government doesn’t like.
As American citizens it our duty to ensure our President doesn’t forget his role. His job is to serve the people of the country. This President has been working very hard since 9/11 to change the meaning of the Presidency. It seems that instead of a tie, he believes he should be wearing a crown. He has abused the powers we granted him many times over. He has broken dozens of our laws and, when our representatives tried to question him and his agents about those violations, he abused his powers again to keep those agents from talking. He is violating our rights, he is violating our trust, and he is trying to take away our freedom. Our representatives must not allow him to take advantage of the American people any longer.
It’s true we will replace our President soon, but there is untold damage he can do if he is allowed to break any law he chooses between now and January, 2009. As a country it seems we’ve forgotten who is in charge. Our constitution says this is a country “of the people, by the people, for the people”. This is our country. We need to send a message today that we will no longer allow Bush to run this country as if it were his and his alone. The office of the President answers to us, not the other way around. We exact this control through congress and the senate. It is their job to run the government as we see fit. If they are not doing their job it’s not our duty, it’s our right to fire them and replace them with somebody who will do the job as we say. As such, every citizen in this country that values their privacy and their freedom needs to call or write their representative and senator and, as their boss, order them vote NO on the President’s request. It’s our country, let’s take it back.
