They say that we are under attack because the enemy hates our freedoms. In response to this threat they limit our freedoms to protect them. They say the enemy wants to change our way of life, but I only see those we trust to protect us changing it. They say we are fighting them over there so we don’t have to here, yet it is here we are suspending habeas corpus, spying on civilians, and wiretapping in this country. What I find so interesting is that these solutions are the same ones they claimed to need to fight drugs.There has been a steady erosion of our basic rights over the last two decades. Do not think I am blaming any one President or party for this. It is a joint venture to say the least. It has been a steady path for the last two decades at least and it starts with the children as all changes must.
When I was in school they could not open my locker without me being there and knowing what they were looking for. I knew my rights. The war on drugs allowed them to open without telling me what they were looking for, but I still had to be there. It also allowed them to search my car if it was on campus. It was a minor intrusion on my rights, but they always are.
Education slowly started shifting around this time. Standardized testing became the “best” way to compare students’ progress across the country and find the weak spots. Since school funding was in the balance, schools began focusing on teaching the test over the standard curriculum. Social studies, arts, and P.E. fell to the sidelines and children slowly forgot how to think. They were also lacking the basic lessons of what makes America special: our rights.
April 20, 1999 two disgruntled kids enter Columbine High School and shoot 36 people, killing 12 of them. In response to this tragic event the school increased security and further took rights away. Random locker and backpack searches became the norm. No one thought of it as an intrusion on their rights because it was being done to protect the children. The children did not care because no one had taught them about their rights, so they did not know.
On Tuesday, September 11, 2001 the kids lost any chance of true freedom.
As these children grow up, they encounter a world without basic rights and they wonder why we are so upset. They were raised in a world of random locker searches, random drunk driving check points, and urine tests to prove you are not on drugs, metal detectors, and cameras. They are being raised in a world where you are guilty until proven innocent. An accusation is all it takes today.
It is well known that the best way to effect change is slowly over years. If you get the children then it does not matter what the adults think. Right now we have a generation of children who have never seen America and I fear what country this will be as they assume control. They are being raised to think of the Bill of Rights as optional, conditional, or irrelevant. Tell me I am wrong please.
7 comments:
You are bound and determined to make me get political.....
We have not last any freeedoms...I hear that and my eyes roll and shjake my head in disbelief....
The fact is schools need a higher state of security now....with as many school shootings as we have had, its a natural and necesary progression of security measures....
The hard left and right try and pretend that somehow anti terrorism measures limit an Americans freedom.....Here is a good way to stop that...DON'T CALL TERRORISTS....If you don't pick up the teley and call Bin Al Shebe or Ayman al Zawahiri, you are going to be ok....and if you do....expect the CIA to crawl up your butt....
In no way has my freedom been taken away from me or you.....
And lest we forget, WE ARE AT WAR.....
They do, but it is more abstract than linear. The purpose of what I wrote is that the rights only apply to those who know them. An entire generation is growing up in a world where their rights are taken left and right. I used the terrorism thing as one example and the war on drugs as another. Columbine is a good one because random locker searches have not helped as we see today. Maybe more understanding teachers would.
This is a sad day. Just this morning I had these same very frightening things happen to me at the hand of federal agents without probable cause, or warrant. When will this stop? detail on my blog
The problem is that with the so-called Patriot Act in place, anybody can be arrested at any time for any reason -- as long as it's chalked up to falling under the Patriot Act. Nobody even knows the extent of the "infractions" that might encompass. Once arrested, all civil rights are suspended, including habeas corpus, and you might be tried in a secret court by a secret judge and sent to a secret prison. Your family might never know where you're being held or what happened to you.
Everyone and anyone that is cavorting with terrorists is fair game...I ask people who have a problem with the Patriot act and other measures...
How many are you willing to see die for the freedoms of terrorist suspects? 1, 10, 20,000....
Me? NONE.....I say we use whatever tools we can to fight the terrorists....Put them in jail, put them in a grave....but neutralize them as a threat...
Innocent of the charges. I am not an innocent person, but if you say I murdered someone I am innocent of that.
Hey its Zombo.....what up man?
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