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BlackPhx -> RE: Obama has officially been elected President of the United States (11/5/2008 8:43:46 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: daddysub4realdom
oh but you didnt hear now they are trying to change the constitution too, this really wont be america anymore and there will be no such thing as freedom
It has already been changed. It was changed 45 days AFTER 911 2001 occurred when President Bush signed away our rights and protections in a bill called the Patriot Act http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17343res20031114.html . We lost even more when the Patriot Act II was proposed in 2003 http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/17346leg20030320.html . I have supplied 2 links from the ACLU, but please do your own search on these Acts. Basically, if someone accuses you of terrorist activities or even of the possibility that you are money laundering funds that COULD end up in terrorist hands, your CIVIL liberties are suspended. No warrants needed to wire tap your phones,, your emails (and every one sent is pretty much scanned by software for key words and phrases), your property and business seized, and you incarcerated and interrogated without benefit of counsil or anyone even knowing where you are. Rarely are laws written in haste and fear mindful of our rights.
Thousands upon thousands of people have to fight for the right to fly in commercial planes because they share the same name as someone on the No FLy List maintained by our Intelligence Agencies and TSA. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30road.html http://www.usatoday.com/travel/columnist/burbank/2005-12-06-burbank_x.htm and http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/17/watchlist.chertoff/index.html but more interestingly http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/16/watch.list/index.html?iref=newssearch . In reality it has not made our skies any safer.
Hopefully with a Constitutional Law expert at the helm, We the people will begin to get back some of those rights our ancestors fought for, and that we still continue the fight for even today. We gave away so very many of those rights in our fear, but what is given away has to be fought hard for if we want to get them back. "Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose" is an sadly misleading statement..Freedom is so much more. It is precious and has to be fought for, nurtured, protected and affirmed every day, and that includes freedom from a reaction from fear. Carlin said it best.. "I love this country for the rights we USED to have". Maybe one day we will have back our rights, the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The right not to incriminate ourselves ( check the Driver's License laws in your state, most likely you lose your right to drive if you REFUSE a breathalyzer test which MIGHT incriminate you), the right of a business to decide if it's workers can smoke in their OWNED building or rented office. The right to NOT have your legal case tried in the Media before you are even Charged.. Check out the releases of information, phone calls, evidence and documents on the Caysee Anthony Case here in Florida. Seating an impartial jury in that case is going to be extremely difficult as even the Sealed Grand Jury records of evidence presented was released. Heck from everything that was released, Nancy Grace has her signed, sealed and delivered to Death row already.
Last night was historical. Not just because for the first time in History an African American was elected to the highest office in this land. Not just because he is the second youngest President we have ever had. But because people, young and old stepped up and were counted. For or against they came out and voted in numbers we have not seen for MANY, Many Years, and that does send a message to government.
Ennui on the part of We the People is over. Good or bad what happens in the next 4 - 8 years had it's roots in last night. Roots that said, I Want to be involved., I don't want to just follow party lines, I don't accept that I am too young to decide what is right for me even though I have the vote and a right to fight and die for this country. I don't accept that I am too old to change the direction this country has been headed. It has been a very long time since any Presidential Campaign has been so heated, so fired up on the part of ANY of the Parties or the People.
Change does not come from the Government, it comes from US, changing the Government. If it has become stagnant, cumbersome and patriarchal insisting Father Knows best..Then we like young adults rebel or show them that we can choose and manage our own lives. We may make mistakes, we may fall, but we will also pick ourselves up and correct what was done wrong. That too is a part of Freedom. The Freedom to make mistakes, rise above them, correct them and move on.
That is what this Change is to me. Not that Government is going to change over night but that instead of 1/2 of the people voting, 85 percent of the nation voted. That we are going to be involved in the choices made. Change is life, it grows and evolves through change, we as a country need to change our direction if we are going to continue to grow.
Popeye is right (Ok hell froze over he and I agreed on something), a lot of our infrastructure is shot. Bridges are collapsing, dams have been under repair for years, but need to be replaced http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91293215. Levees and Locks are no longer adequate and roads are not built for the type of traffic we run over them these days. So many complain about the welfare state, but what if those who are sitting and collecting are put to work repairing and building, learning a trade, earning a living. What if those who are currently collecting unemployment because of the housing bust, or downsizing from white collar jobs are put to work and paid a living wage to rebuild our roads, our dams or levees, write the computer programs, maintain the machinery, track the expenses. Which would cost us more? Building and putting people to work who will then pay taxes on that money, or sitting and waiting for lives, businesses and property to be lost when they collapse, while we pay out more and more in extended unemployment benefits, welfare and food stamps? I know which one I vote for. You don't kick start an economy from the top..you do it by putting people back to work, the ones at the bottom. When they have paychecks, a roof and food, they spend money and that, creates more jobs, and a sounder consumer base than anything else.
Not all Change is good but stagnation NEVER is.
Poenkitten ( who was proud of her country last night.. we took a step, stood up and was counted )
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