Intelligence Reform Act, more like Constitution Reform Act

[Caldric]

I think everyone has heard the meaningful phrase “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Well Ben Franklin was a man that did not seek personal fortune, who was intelligent, a patriot and most likely the most important person in the early days of our nation. His words and actions echo through the years and we can look at his quote and just blow it off or we can look at the current state of this country and wonder if we could not use a few Franklin’s today, it is obvious there are none in Washington, that includes the President all the way down. Intelligence Reform is somewhat an oxymoron for Washington and the Halls of Power. You must first have intelligence in order to reform it, which since September 11th 2001 the government as a whole has shown little of.

For years as many of us grew up in the Cold War we were told how in the USSR they had National ID cards, how low and oppressive that is for the people of the USSR, how they were stripped of the basic rights of being human. Now our own government creates a system that allows the government to track your moves no matter where you are. What does that have to do with the huge bloated overly costly intelligence system of this country? Nothing at all, it is just a chance to throw in civil crushing laws under the shadow of "FEAR". National Driver License Database is a National ID System and that is as simple as that.

Here are some now dead since the bill was signed Friday, but interesting links to read on the issue:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/yates/yates99.html

http://www.aapsonline.org/confiden/nationalid.htm

http://washtimes.com/national/20041007-123853-6683r.htm

But we are not only talking about National ID, the thought of which makes me cringe, but this supposed Intelligence Reform Act is nothing but a continuation of the corrosion of the Civil Liberties of the people of this country. The “reform” also will extend the ability of the police forces of this country to use wire tapping and search and seizures. What does that have to do with Intelligence Reform?

Before Friday a court had to prove why a person being charged with a crime could not get bail during his trial. Now the person charge under to presumption, I am assuming, of guilt must prove he deserves to get bail. This will turn the innocent until proven guilty system in our courts on its head. No longer must the court prove the guilt but it has been reversed and the person accused must prove their innocence. If we open our eyes to the changes to our civil liberties in the last few years we can assume fearfully that next you will be arrested under the presumption that you are guilty and must prove your innocence. We already have made it where the Federal Police forces can enter your home while you are at work and look around with out a warrant, only thing they need is a so-called National Security Letter and they have free reign. Perhaps next they can get black cars and take people away in the night for questioning, outrageous accusation? Maybe but why not ask the people of the ex-USSR if it can happen.

The slow erosion of our rights has been on going by our government since the terrorist attacks in 2001, and before but nothing like post-2001. Even though there has been no other attacks of that size since, and most likely will not happen again for sometime, perhaps never or perhaps it will. Either way the Intelligence Reform Act would not have stopped 9/11, neither would the Patriot Act.

What these Bills are is simply the continuation of ignorance and laziness in our Government. Instead of reforming the intelligence agency in our country they have once again remove pieces of the Bill of Rights under the phantom threat of “Terrorism”. I would rather die at the hands of terrorist then to have my children live in a country that no longer follows the basic tenants of our rights. While troops fight a war in a far flung place in the name of Freedom our government takes a few more rights from them. They call it necessity; I call it laziness and contempt for the Constitution.

Necessity never made a good bargain. - Franklin