30 June, 2013

Make It So

When I was young, I was taught, and I took it to heart with a great deal of pride, in knowing that the US led the way, showing the rest of the world that the US always did the right thing, no matter how hard it seemed.

The right thing was the way the US always did things. The US didn't torture, in fact, we went out of our way to prove to the rest of the world that humane treatment of prisoners was central to our beliefs. All I had to do was look at the way we treated German prisoners of war. That was the example that was always shown to me then. The US support for what seemed to be the losing side in international conflicts was because the side we supported was honest, trying to do the right thing. The other side were always the crooks, the bad guys. And it went on and on that way. It was comforting to know, that easy or not, and it was often not, the US always did the right thing.

The past several years, that belief has been not only eroded but outright destroyed. Just off the top of my head, the Japanese American Internment of WWII; the My Lai massacre in Viet Nam; Watergate break-in and coverup; Abu Ghraib, Iraq, torture and abuse; revelations in detail about water-boarding; Guantanamo and indefinite detention; the NSA; etc., etc., has shown me that the good ol' USA has tended and continues to be doing anything but the right thing, and it's been that way for a long, long time.

With the latest revelations over the past few years of the 'terrorism threat' and what's been perpetrated because of that, creation of the huge abomination called the Department of Homeland Security, its Transportation Security Administration, the No-Fly List, and general abuse of the the traveling public as a result, and now the NSA debacle, shows that more and more it seems, our government is working harder and more deviously to erode, do away with, take away, and destroy, not only basic human rights, but is ignoring and in many cases, outright flaunting its total disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law against its own citizens - us.

It's long past time to begin taking back the Constitution and the rule of law. I want a US where we are secure in knowing that our government always, that's ALWAYS, does the right thing no matter what. That we actually DO lead the way in showing the rest of the world how it's done and done right, not in leading the world in the number of people incarcerated, or in nearly constant revelations of how we've actually led the world in doing things the wrong way, and for the wrong reasons.

The solution is simple. It may be hard to do, but it's simple. Just do the right f**king thing! 

Restore the Fourth seems as good a place to start as any other.


Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution




Corozal Dave said...

Yes it is a very sad state of affairs for the "free Western countries". I too remember growing up and listening to how terrible it was in the Eastern Communist countries. Where people had no privacy from the government listening in on all conversations, mail was not safe, nothing was safe from the probing eyes of the KGB. Friends and neighbors turned each other in for talking about freedoms. Well it looks like things have gone full circle, now nothing is private anywhere in the USA either. All those men and woman who fought to maintain those freedoms must be turning over in their graves...such a sad state of affairs.

Dave + Dianna Rider said...

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the comment. You're so right, it is a sad state of affairs. I'm afraid it's not going to get better for a long, long time either.


JRinSC said...

I'm with you 100%. Most times I really believe that we've lost the battle. Just reading the headlines makes me want to move to Belize and watch the collapse from there.
Sorry for my attitude but it has taken several, several years to reach this belief. There is always hope... that people will wake up and elect some people whose main goal will be to right the country and not to be re-elected.

I could go on and on, as could you. Best to do what you can and keep an eye out to help when you can and enjoy each day we're given.