by Andrew Napolitano
What if Memorial Day reminds us of times when we had more freedom? What if freedom is dying right under our eyes? What if the memory of the past is more fulfilling than the reality of the present?
What if the federal government could write any law, regulate any behavior and tax any event, no matter what the Constitution authorized? What if the majority in Congress rejects the idea of limited government and views the Constitution as granting it blanket power to do whatever it can get away with? What if the constitutional prohibition on the government’s taking of life, liberty or property without due process of law is only for show and is not for real?
What if the House of Representatives seriously considered letting the military lock up whatever Americans the president ordered the troops to arrest, without charges filed or lawyers present or a judge presiding? What if the House seriously debated this idea of indefinite military detention of Americans in America and actually voted in favor of it? What if this unconstitutional monstrosity becomes the law and your right to due process depends on whether you remain with the majority, stay silent or behave properly? What if the Constitution’s guarantees are not guarantees at all, but are subject to the whims of whoever is in power?
What if the Declaration of Independence, which articulated the moral authority for the revolution against Great Britain, recognized that our rights come from our Creator and are inalienable? What if very few in government recognize the divine origin of human freedom and its natural integrity to our humanity?
What if the government only permitted freedom so long as it was exercised as the government pleases? What if the government rejected the basic values of every person’s right to life and liberty and property in favor of some collective good, where the government could arrest you without evidence, ration your freedom to suit the general welfare and take your property from you and sell it at a profit?
What if the government could hire thugs to keep you safe? What if it gave the thugs uniforms and badges and sent them to airports? What if it gave them rubber gloves to wear and told them they could touch you and your children and your parents however and wherever they wished? What if these thugs touched the private parts of little babies and old ladies and intentionally restrained those who have criticized them while the rest of us just watched and let this happen?
What if the airlines did a better job of keeping their customers happy and their property safe than the thugs did? What if the government spent millions of your tax dollars to advertise what a great job it’s doing? What if the government charged the airlines millions of their dollars for the illusory services these thugs are rendering? What if the government’s thugs never caught a single bad guy intent on harming a flight in America? What if the government’s thugs actually let weapons and bad guys onto planes because the thugs are dopes who have no competition, who can’t be sued and who won’t be fired?
What if the government found more dopes and dupes and convinced them that they should conspire to commit acts of terrorism? What if the idea for terrorist acts and the means for committing them came from the government? What if no real threats were involved in these games and no real weapons were used, just fake threats and fake weapons, fomented and provided by the government? What if the government created these phony crimes just so that it could solve them? What if no one was ever in danger from these government-created crimes, except those the government tricked? What if the government did this again and again and then boasted that it was keeping us safe from its own creations? What if Congress and the media and even the courts fell for this?
What if, on Memorial Day, we remember times that were more free than today? What if, on Memorial Day, when we think of those who died for our freedom, we end up recognizing that the freedom they died for is dying? What if it becomes fashionable for the government to ignore the Constitution? What if the Constitution dies because the government stops following it? What if, next Memorial Day, freedom is just a memory?
What do we do about it?
Andrew P. Napolitano [send him mail], a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is the senior judicial analyst at Fox News Channel. Judge Napolitano has written six books on the U.S. Constitution. The most recent is It Is Dangerous To Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom. To find out more about Judge Napolitano and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit creators.com.
Copyright © 2012 Andrew P. Napolitano
What a sad day. So many laws have been passed that’s against our Constitution that there is hardly any freedom left. Our Marxist President has seen to it that not only our freedoms are forfeited but our land, our farms and waterways are part of the UN. America is dead.
Well don’t just sit there, do something. Get up and support a local candidate volunteering whatever time you have to offer them. A constitutional candidate. What is the matter with people? You are blaming obat for all of this? Why? name a republican that is stopping him from advancing the same agenda as Bush had and Clinton and Bush sr who is the one that signed on to AGenda 21 and got this take over started so you might want to rethink your blanket blame (I hope) and help us for crying out loud do something don’t leave it to others recruit your friends, neighbors and family to help and if you hate RonPaul and believe the crap they say on media. Start your exit from the matrix on his FB page and websites. Try to not buy int othe “side” crap too. you are doing exactly what the deliberate divide and conquer strategy intended, you chose a side and hat the “other side” which tells me you never did one thing to help us stop this madness. If I am wrong, fine I will stand corrected but if you are voting or willing to vote for Mitt Romney I do NOT want to hear from you if you are going to refuse to find out all you can from the Ron Paul pages on how to help us restore constitutional law. This has been going on as far as wars that we have started and murdered millions upon millions in 1953 with the ousting of an elected leader and the imposing our will onto the Iranian people with a brutal dictator The Shah of Iran. It just keeps getting worse from there. please do not allow false pride to keep you from finding out the truth. WE may be too late but try I am begging you to be objective. It was a majority republicans who passed the NDAA and to make it to the pres desk so that fraud would sign it into law so plese get shed of the party crap and join us in the Constitution as it promotes unity which we despartately need Thanks foir listening if you did.
Its time
Not only have you negligently lost your own freedoms, you have deliberately taken away the freedoms of an entire world. Even Hitler could never have done that.
@lawoh Iawoh, are you exempt? Why is it your say you did this and you did that. Not that I hope to start and argument, we have enough of those. I hope to express a thought about unity. If we have no unity we have no hope. If you want us to take accountability, where will you be? How long does it take a patriotic activist to merit no longer okay to place blame onto them. Have you been so active for your entire life and never were lulled into the hypnotic state tv watching does? I doubt you are guilt free. If Im not your can’t be. Many of us have been discovering the endliss list of needs pouring in. We are just near the part where they will begin the processed food that kills you slowly or starve and die fast.
@AmericanhyphenAmerican One, because I am not a citizen of your country. Two, because you did this and you did that, first for United Fruit then for Coca-Cola and then for all the others. Three, I spend a good deal of my life in the service of my country trying to put bandages on wounds created by interfering and bungling Americans.Do you even know what you have historically done and what you are still doing now? A little real history of the real life involvement of the American elite in the lead up to and even during the second world war … just for you:http://mtwsfh.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/1937-1938-murdering-workers-again.html?m=1
@lawoh @AmericanhyphenAmerican I happen to agree with you but would have liked to know you were not an American saying this and could have understood your point easier. I am not a supporter of what the rogue government is doing. I have never been since the day I began to debrief my indoctrinated mind of their BS. I do not support any particular party and am a strong advocate of the US Constitution. Had it been adhered to we would not be such a monstrous spectacle to others. I am sorry that you hate us so much as it is a mixed up complex conglomeration of brainwashing, lies, gullibility, false pride, stupidity, and stubborn people who refuse so many thousands of times from my efforts alone better yet all of the Americans who are also doing everything they can come up with to reach others and hope they somehow get even a glimpse of what is really happening and stop promoting their own demise by assisting enemies domestic. I have not opened the link. I am way to exhausted to do that at this time. I suspect it is intended to make me feel worse than now and believe me I have some very depressing moments since long before you came into the picture so to speak. I have been berated, verbally abused, called un American, a tin foil hatter, oh mustn’t leave out racist, on and on. I have been at this for twelve years and it was in fact one month prior to 9/11 that my wake up began and I have never stopped not one day since then. I have worked hard at it and will not stop until I am dead. That is how it is for some of us here. WE are mocked and degraded and assaulted for our efforts but we are also gaining in number. It is impossible to continue on with the charades and to keep using stupid so obvious reasons for going to war and destroying lives killing innocent people under the false claims of these monsters. Do not for one second think I am not aware of it. In fact, it has been recently that I am no longer working entirely alone. The tparty types are still in a different stage and can be infuriating when they want to support this crap they are not aware of enough to see right through the bs and I suppose we never will be completely debriefed but I do not know one person who has tried harder than I have to escape the matrix and I have and I work hard so excuse me but you had no way of knowing you were yelling at someone for my response was that of an older person who forgets this is not a national but international connection. I’m not computer savvy one might say. I hope we both learned something. I have been up all night in fact unable to make my self leave the infinite source of incoming info. If it were not that this is already too lengthy I’m sorry I would tell you of a deal yesterday that was just so discouraging I felt paralyzed. don’t believe we Americans have much longer to live really because war always takes out the ones who did not want it in the first place. I will open that link when I have slept first I suspect it will turn my hair from gray to white.
@AmericanhyphenAmerican Wow, you just put everything in my heart to words in a way I have never been able to. Thank you for that. My awakening came about 4 years ago, and I have been teaching myself and learning everything I can. I have tried to educate others, and for a very few, it has worked, but the others… well, I’m some crazy Obama-hating loon. I will not stop trying to help others see what they are too afraid to see.
@AmericanhyphenAmerican @lawoh I hope you got some sleep. You had the extreme rambles. It makes sense , but it worried me because I have at times stayed up too long and too late to make complete sense and it wasn’t healthy. However, we are at the point where if we don’t act now we are done. They will show up at our doors demanding our weapons and cart us off to the “camps.” Can we hope for spontaneous consciousness? Can we trust in God to bring us together at the right time in the right place? I think we must trust in God but act like Patriots. Our children and our grandchildren deserve the freedom and liberty that our forefathers wrought for us.
@MarkSchull @lawoh I did get sleep and slept into the afternoon. Now a schedule correction is needed. Thank you for your response. I agree with what you day here. Tonight I went to a tparty meeting although i had quit that one several months back. They chose the path of least resistance with the NWO and I walked away as I am aware they know what they’re doing, not an accident. I went tonight for the video taping of a friend who is in her eighties and highly respected took her two minutes of free time to tell what she learned concerning the sabotage of the Ron Paul delegates in our county. Iti s a long story but it is now proven and left unaddressed of course. This war is between sovereignty and the NWO. I stand with you wherever we are each of us in all you expressed here. I rarely stay up like that my nerves were shot all the bad news coming in like falling rain only toxic. My fear is my strength in a very real sense.
@LisaJones Thank you LiasJones sounds like we are in similar frustrating or better said, infuriating positions. So many of us are but as Mark said we cannot stop now or ever give up for the sake of generations who are utterly dependent on our victory. We have the biggest battle coming up. Truly it appears more each day to be the battle of Armegeddon. Sometimes we never know what influence our efforts have on others. We plant seeds but they do not grow until we are long gone planting seeds somewhere else but it grows and it does change things. We can do this if it is God’s will. WE have been betrayed. It is the saddest thing in my entire life and I have had a lot of rocky roads to take. Always rest in faith and you will be okay is what I believe. Thanks for the compliment.
@AmericanhyphenAmerican @LisaJones I tried to sign up as a poll worker here in Maryland but found out you have to sign up months before the primary, which we’ve already had. I’m looking into being there simply as a volunteer, because poll workers are paid positions. I don’t care if I get paid or not. My voting place is pretty tame, though – just a bunch of older men and women watching, BUT I have never had anyone verify my legitimacy as a voter. I’ve offered ID, only to be told, “oh, we don’t need that, honey!” As least ask for my voter’s registration card!! I post everything I can on fb (which has gotten me blocked by several people), I talk and talk and talk and watch people’s eyes glaze over because they can’t see any farther than what is right in front of them. Everyone is so caught up in their daily struggles to make it from one day to the next, they can’t see what comes in the next year, or the next 5. They don’t BELIEVE what is there if they just would take the time to look. I can’t travel to go to a lot of events because it’s expensive and I’m helping my 2 adult children who can’t survive on their own in this economy, plus 5 strays/shelter animals we’ve taken in rather than see be put down, and my own income is worth about 2/3 of what it was 2 years ago (plus no raise in over 3 years). I write letters, and sign petitions. Though it’s hard sometimes, I donate what I can to the cause. I don’t know what else I can do, except what I am doing. I guess I’ll just keep on keeping on, and pray for the best. One thing – I DO wish I had a weapon or 2 or 3 lol! I live awfully close to Baltimore City, and the crime there is horrendous, and spreading out to the surrounding county, which is where I am. By the time I’ve got enough put aside for that, they will not be selling guns to ordinary citizens. Not to mention Maryland has not very friendly gun laws. Getting a permit to carry is next to impossible here (hmmmm Martin O’Malley, Obama’s long lost white brother, need I say more???) I’ve been saying for 3 years now he wants a shot at the WH in 2016, and he’s cut from the same fricken cloth as Obama – hands as deep in your pockets as he can get them, just to pass it on to his cronies!!
I pray daily our country will survive this all out assault on our freedoms, liberties, and what this country truly stands for. I just don’t understand why people want to take such a beacon of hope for the world and turn it into just another 3rd rate country. And even less do I understand why our elected officials seem to want this, as well. Apparently oaths mean little to nothing to them, the president, our governors, the police, and I hesitate to add military, and won’t, because I’ve seen a lot of postings by military personnel who just may not go along with the program when the time comes.
God help us all!!!
@LisaJones They do not fear God and they take an oath before God but think it is only for some sort of historical reason and not an actual oath. They know they are going to break it before the take the oath. They need to be voted out. We keep voting for traitors. How many people continue to praise Lt Col Allen West even though he has voted yes to the NDAA? Still they praise him and want him for VP. What joke that has nothing funny about it. Please do keep those prayers up and we all should. We are hated around the world for the things our government has done without or permission or knowledge and sometimes with our knowledge but not our permission or with our permission due to them lying about the reasons and collectively speaking we are stupid as can be. I’m glad a lot of Americans are finding this out. We have the fight of our lives here and must prepare for it with the knowledge it may be us that gets killed but we will only die in vain if we die without the cause for a reason. For future generations I may be killed and they may never likely know this but it was done for us by the same and I will do it for them if that is what it takes. Our complacency got us here, we have a price to pay for that.
@lawoh Here is one and I must go but you might have a look, I send out the letter to our troops and ask for a response from anyone who wanted to contriubute not matter waht they beleived. The video that was sent to me in response was one of them and no words came with it from the sender. Just one of the most glaring propaganda videos I cannot believe the guy who sent it believes all of this stuff even now at such a late date. Antoher obedient sucker.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger187.html
@AmericanhyphenAmerican @lawoh Man I watched that and remembered when I believed the whole SCHTICK. I am a Viet Nam Era Vet and you were on one side or the other. The motivation for most of us in those days was the Cold War fear that was drummed into us in grade school. I have advocated for the last 30 years a from of isolationism. Seems easy to me. If the rest of the world hates us so much, fine. We should pull on our horns beef up our borders and let them live in the 15th century like they want. Build up and maintain the best military in the world and keep to ourselves. WHen the rest of the world is tired of killing each other we can help them rebuild and become partners in peace. Most of the countries that we’ve rebuilt or helped rebuild hate us for it anyway. I’m too tired to make good sense right now. TTYL
@MarkSchull @lawoh I think we must be about the same age. I remember the drills and having to cover our heads by the windows of all things when you think about that. Kruchef scared the daylights out of me. I am a Ron Paul supporter. We are being shoved out of our rightful place for representation. It is a national thing that is orchestrated against us like a machine. I don’t know what to think anymore either. YOu are not alone.
We must continue in our efforts to replace the current progressive style administration with God loving, constitution loving patriotic , humble americans who see the damage and want to repair what this gang of thieves have done to our country and American way of life. May Go have mercy on us if we don’t act now.
What if we as a people stop being silent about what is going on to our once great nation and make a stand. What if real americans would stop worrying about what people think and stand up for what is right. What if the truth could be told and not worry about hurting ones feelings. What if our schools taught our children real histroy and not the p.c. bullshit they are using to indoctrinate them.What if we could open the eyes of people that are blind to the lies that our gov’t spews and does the exact opposite right in front of them with no contest. What if we the people really started to act as a Nation under God! What if we stop talking about it and start doing something about it. What if one day they come to your door and tell you that you have to come with them and take a train to a FEMA “camp”. I’m afraid that’s when you will wish that you had not been silent and then my friends it will be to late.What if we could put race aside for the common goal of being a true American, independent of gov’t, put dependent of each other and God. This country was like that before 1860. What if we the people do not let all our Veterans Sacrafices past and present go in vein.
@BayBoy59 Very well said sir. Well said.
What if We the People stop turning a blind eye to the abuses by the tyrants in DC and begin small non-violent but targeted responses to the abuses. You know, like throwing tea into the harbor and such. What if we are bold enough to publicize the abuses and talk about Freedom and Liberty in public and reach out to others to explain how those freedoms are being denied to their fellow Americans. You know, like the Declaration and Federalist Papers did. What if we vote for true conservative Constitutional leadership and not just a person with an R behind their name or a person who talks a good game but then votes with the establishment. You know, like the TEA Party-backed people did on the NDAA. What if we resolve in our American hearts to never submit to tyranny or troops on our streets or drones over our neighborhoods and vow to always stand strong, stand up and stand together for ourselves, our families and the America we all remember from our youth.
@samuladams1773
@samuladams1773 Sounds like we are on the same page. Would be nice if we could get everyone the same book and maybe they could catch up with us!
@samuladams1773 I believe like you do that there has to be a way to get our indignation across to those that are currently ignoring us. Those phonies that got elected under the Tea Party banner and voted for the NDAA farce need to be voted right back out again. There are 100s of thousands of us maybe millions that believe just as you do that we need and must do something. Here in Indiana we got rid of Lugar for his phoney conservative acts, his double speak habits. We can and must write our Congressmen every time they go against the Constitution and if they continue, vote them out of office. One of my ideas is for about 100,000+ cars to drive east until we completely block off the D.C. area and bring the coast to a standstill. They can’t give us tickets if they can’t find the first car to pull over and shut off the engine. They couldn’t tow all the cars away. They would be helpless to get control of the situation. Start the whole drive-in on Pennsylvania Ave and continue until cars go all the back way to W. Virginia. Lock up the whole coast…
@MarkSchull What an interesting idea Mark. Now they have driven our financial power into near non existence and soon it will be non existent though limiting travel abilities for most of us. There should be that many in any given area of the US though and maybe those who are closest could pull this off.. I am fed up completely with the citzens who dismiss us with a wave of the hand and say something condescending like, don’t worry about the lies they tell on the net. It isn’t that bad. Or Obama is no communist. Sure he isn’t. It offends me every time I see a picture or hear the name of Lt Col Allen West. I believe it is b/c he gave me hope and he betrayed far more than his district by voting for the NDAA. I had Jay Inslee for a fake rep. It matters not to those of us who have no representation where a constitutional politician resides anymore, we call them and email them as we have no representation where we live. West was one of them and I resent him tremendously. BTW I refuse to call myself a conservative. Conservatives at this point are either brainwashed or complicit. I am a constitutionalist and will not compromise my vote nor allow them to intimidate my voice. If that gets me killed I hope only that it will not be in vain.
@AmericanhyphenAmerican Damn we sound like brothers of a different mother. My neighbor and I are Viet Nam Vets and we have decided that we were lucky to live through that era and that we are on borrowed time. When push comes to shove we figure we’ve lived and if the tree of Liberty needs to be replenished we will be there and do that. I started growing my hair because the original patriots had long hair and I won’t cut it until I’m dead or the country returns to the Constitution. Like you I won’t accept conservatism as it has been re-defined. The only thing acceptable to me is Constitutionalism. I voted in the primary in Indiana and it was a an exercise in futility, but I voted for Ron Paul anyway. The media and lobbies are running this country through Congress and I for one am totally sick of it. Nuff Said?
@samuladams1773 Count me in!
@samuladams1773
>You know, like throwing tea into the harbor and such.
The Boston Tea Party was a great publicity stunt but it didn’t free the colonialists from English rule. Voting doesn’t seem to be working any better to reverse the destruction of liberty today than civil disobedience did in the colonies either.
Yes–”never submit to tyranny or troops on our streets or drones over our neighborhoods and vow to always stand strong, stand up and stand together ” but don’t expect to do it though political processes.
People NEED to start reading “Unintended Consequences”.
You have to be MENTALLY RETARDED to support these bills that DENY the very FREEDOMS our Constitution DEMANDS!
They are all TRAITORS to the Constitution they took an oath to defend.
”THE LAW OF THE LAND”
@OffWithTheirHEADS I believe the brainwashed masses may outnumber us but if they do, it is not by much. It is tipping in our direction but as it does, the assault on the American people gains momentum knowing they have a limited window of time to for ex: disarm us.
Just in case all you folks don’t know it, all this is happening right now. It’s happening by way of lies, distractions,misleading all of us under the guise of making life better for us. Time to wake up and smell the roses. When you do, you will find they’re not roses at all. You were just told they were, by the illegal Kenyan in the zebra house, and we are all supposed to believe that, and all the rest of the lies were being spoon fed. We, The People, need to do something about all this politicalBS.
“What If” need to be back on some sort of video that we can pass around to those who REFUSE to read!
I do not know how to do any more to get the word out. People are looking at us like we are AMWAY distributors looking to sell them soap. When the Judge speaks, people do truly “get it” and start thinking. He MUST be back on video where we can pass him around.
Stand and say, “I will NOT comply” and mean it!
@grumpytees I hear you grumpytees! People are starting to look at me like I’ve got 2 heads or something. They think I’m obsessed, even my own family! They all stick their heads in the sand and just don’t understand the jeopardy our country, and therefore we, are in! Well, they can keep looking at me like that, because I’m not going to stop talking. If I can wake up just ONE person – and I’m pretty sure I’ve reached a few of them, even if it’s just getting them questioning and not accepting the pablum they’re being spoon fed by the MSM – well, it’s worth it to look like some obsessed crazy person who sees conspiracies everywhere she turns. Only thing is – it’s really happening!!
@grumpytees They reject the videos too unfortunately. I call them functionally comatose. They are matrix dwellers who are the very ones who feel righteous when they participate in the sabotage of other people’s voices and right to be represented. Where I live they took extreme measures to keep anyone that was not for Romney, out of the conventions and unrepresented no matter how many more of us there are than them, It mattered not. What mattered to them, was their control of, what should have been their constitutional allegiance, they gave it to a political party instead, stupidly. They will never survive as a political party doing what they have resorted to in the past at least, two presidential elections. They will, if successful, turn our nation over to the united nations and then they will realize too late, they were wrong, terribly wrong.
I find it hard to believe the Judge quit Freedom Watch. I also find it hard to believe FoxBiz cancelled his show due to ratings.
It appears that his endorsement of Ron Paul did him in by the establishment unconstitutionalist GOPers (Brit Hume, etc.).
If that is the case, how can the Judge continue to work for Fox with good conscience?
Just because you can go shopping or to the doctor or perhaps visit folks in the next town or city, by no means, does it mean that is liberty. Most Germans could do that when Hitler first took over it was voting himself powers that was preeminent, these powers effectively curtailed these trivial liberties at will WHENEVER HE WISHED and is why later it took a permit to travel or buy gasoline.
So to talk about liberty disappearance or outdated constitution in the future tense is a bit disingenuous or misinformed about the political environment in the United States.
Martial Law: The Buildup to NDAA 2012
By Andrew Bosworth, Ph.D./ multipolarfuture.com
James Madison was right:
“Since the general civilization of mankind, I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
The Patriot Act: 2001
The No-Fly List: 2001
Project Bioshield Act: 2004
The Real ID Act: 2005
The Military Commissions Act: 2006
National Defense Authorization Act: 2007
Newborn Screening Act: 2007
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): 2008
Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act: 2011
National Defense Authorization Act: 2012
1. The Patriot Act: 2001
The Patriot Act was written before 2001 attacks and introduced to Congress, just after the 9/11 attacks, when public sentiment favored weakening civil liberties in exchange for “security.”
The Act permitted non-citizens to be jailed based on mere suspicion without charges and detained indefinitely.
The PATRIOT Act also subjected legal groups to surveillance and wiretapping for their legal political advocacy. It also gave law enforcement access to personal medical and financial records.
2. The No-Fly List: 2001
The No-Fly List is an ever-growing database of people who are not permitted to board a commercial aircraft for travel in or out of the United States.
More than 10,000 names are on the list, including numerous Americans, many by mistake. The bloated list has been shaped by ethnic, religious, economic, political, and racial profiling, but mostly political.
It is unlawful to deny Americans access to air travel without due process because airports and airlines are “places of public accommodation.”
A separate “Terrorist Watch List” now has, absurdly, more than 1 million names on it.
3. Project Bioshield Act: 2004
The Project Bioshield Act called for $5 billion for purchasing vaccines that would be used in the event of a bioterrorist attack.
Under the Act, the federal government is authorized to make an “Emergency Use Declaration” (EUD) and force Americans to submit to mandatory “drugs,” “biological products” or “devices” in a manner normally prohibited by federal regulations. This drugs and devices can be expired and unapproved.
This Act violates the Nuremberg Code, which emerged after the Nazi experiments and the Holocaust, stipulating that individuals have the right of consent and the power of choice, when it comes to medical research and treatment.
4. The Real ID Act: 2005
The Real ID Act turned state driver’s licenses into national identity cards. The Act is an unfunded mandate that violates the Constitution’s 10th Amendment on state powers, consolidates every American’s private information, and moves towards a surveillance society.
5. The Military Commissions Act: 2006
The Military Commissions Act allows the president to designate any person an “alien unlawful enemy combatant,” moving that individual into an alternative court system that eliminates the need for a writ of habeas corpus (in which the government has to account for a detainment).
This Act violates Article 1, Section 9 of the US Constitution: “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” The US Supreme Court ruled in ex parte Milligan (1866) that martial law (and suspending habeas corpus) was only permissible in “the theater of active military operations.”
Justice Davis: “Martial law cannot arise from a threatened invasion. The necessity must be actual and present; the invasion real, such as effectually closes the courts and deposes the civil administration.”
6. Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act: 2007
The Newborn Screening Act allows the federal government to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the United States and establish a national DNA database.
This Act allows for government-sponsored eugenics research. DNA is not like a fingerprint, and genetic information can reveal disease propensities, ethnic markers, and perhaps lifespan.
This Act violates the Fourth Amendment’s right “… to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”
7. National Defense Authorization Act: 2007
The NDAA of 2007 eroded the Posse Comitatus Act, which had provided limitations on the use of federal troops for domestic law enforcement.
This Act gave power to the President to declare a “public emergency” and take over control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the state Governors.
8. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA): 2008
The 2008 FISA Act gave the federal government more latitude in its mass surveillance activities.
The Act also gave immunity to telecommunications companies participating in unconstitutional warrantless wiretapping program.
This violates the Bill of Rights’ Fourth Amendment, which stipulates that warrants can only be issued with “probable cause.”
9. Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act: 2011 (passed House December 6, 2011, headed for Senate)
The Act provides for involuntary mass medication or injections during an emergency. The Act enables the federal government to use unapproved or expired products, and there are no provisions for accountability.
The federal government can declare a pandemic emergency, dispense drugs against a population’s
10. National Defense Authorization Act: 2012
NDAA 2012 builds on the previous nine encroachments but actually moves the United States into full martial law. NDAA 2012 cancels six of the ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights (Amendments 4 – 10). It also further destroys the provision of habeas corpus, found in Article I, Section 9 (but weakened by the Military Commissions Act of 2006).
NDAA 2012 provides for the indefinite detention of American citizens, without charge or trial. Sections 1031 and 1032 of the NDAA explicitly authorizes the federal government to indefinitely imprison, without charge or trial, American citizens and others picked up inside and outside the United States.
The bill was drafted in secret and passed in a closed-door committee meeting, without even a single hearing.
NDAA 2012 moves the federal government closer towards a state of illegitimacy.
More than any other encroachment considered here, NDAA 2012 represents nothing short of a declaration of war by the federal government on the American people.
@Clem Kadidlehopper
You are absolutely right. They have been chipping away at our rights for almost 110 yrs. It really got going in 1913 when the federal reserve bank and the irs were inacted. There are still people that think the frb is a federal bank! Unbelievable?
@Clem Kadidlehopper Great summary of the (tyrannical) state of the nation, Clem!
@Clem Kadidlehopper Hello, I printed your comments and info here out to show others, thank you for taking the time to put it here.
It’s not a dream ; it’s reality !!! WAKE UP !!!
better wake up some dreams turn into nightmares
I would think especially Memorial Day would be incentive to keep fighting to preserve the Constitution, to not give up. If our men and women in the military are still willing to fight and die for this country, we must make them proud and be willing to fight for this county as well.
BULLETIN,,,,My ancestors who fought in the First Revolutionary war for our freedom and my ancestors who fought to Preserve those SAME rights in the second Revolutionary war (The Confederacy) would be turning in their grave if they could see that what they fought for was totally destroyed by this Communistic Government that we have now,,,,My Confederate ancestors seen this coming cause of what they went thru the Reconstruction years,,,,If you want to know just what THIS government is capable of reed some books on the Southern Reconstruction,,,,You did not reed this in your Government school history books.
>What if the government only permitted freedom so long as it was exercised as the government pleases?
Government always permits us enough freedom to go as far as the end of our government leashes!
As much as Judge Napolitano strives to bring about a society that tolerates more liberty for the people, I don’t think he’s accepted the obvious truth that the situation he describes is ALWAYS the outcome of government. In fact, it is the very definition of government! Government never permits freedom or, putting it another way, under the state, freedom is always unlawful. Once the condition that Judge Napolitano cites no longer occurs, government will cease to exist.
@calinb7 I believe the Judge understands that quite well. That is why he cites our wonderfully perfect Constitution so often. It is not our Constitution that has changed but government going outside the limits of our Constitution and the courts extending the Constitution beyond its original meaning. Had we not ‘adjusted’ it to fit the whims of government, we would be doing fine today. People used to think for themselves (common sense)–not have others doing their thinking for them. When we stopped doing that, the government stepped in to pick up the slack and ‘take over’. Until we accept this fact and fight back to get government out of our lives we cannot expect things to get better. Get rid of all these government agencies and subsidies, esp. government schools. It will be more work for us individually but the outcome itself will be our reward. God bless this country and help us to know it is our job to save it.
@Lady Patriot @calinb7 Amen Lady Patriot. The constitution has no sides and parties divide while it unites. Ron Paul 2012
@Lady Patriot @calinb7 Amen Lady Patriot. The constitution has no sides and parties divide while it unites. Ron Paul 2012
Let it fall. The sooner the yankee empire falls on its face, the sooner the South can go its own way and do its own thing.
@Lady Patriot Agreed! Given the style, tactic, and intent of the essay, Judge Napolitano does know that our government only permits freedom so long as it is exercised as the government pleases. He also knows all the others “ifs” are, in fact, currently a reality. However, I’m not sure he accepts that Freedom and government of any form or size are mutually exclusive. Even a minimal government (like a government that follows the U.S. Constitution) is, philosophically, no different from our government today, because the entire point of government is to limit freedom. Contemplating this particular “what if” from the essay in the context of small government leads to the same conclusion as it does under our authoritarian state today. The smallest possible government would still only permit freedom so long as it is exercised as the government pleases. My “what if” is, “what if the government actually permitted freedom?”(Answer: It would cease to exist!) Of course the point of Napolitano’s essay was to stimulate people to recognize that “what if” is happening right now and I believe the essay is quite good. I would like people to realize that our Constitution doesn’t solve the “what if” that I quoted. Government is still force. Only the non-aggression principle solves the problem and acceptance of the non-aggression principle implies the acceptance of a stateless society. I would prefer to return to the days of our former Constitutional Republic, because it’s a step in the right direction, but I hope society will one day embrace the non-aggression principle. Sadly, I think a return is very unlikely; I also think government can only run in one direction and it’s the direction our government has run since the day it was founded.
@Lady Patriot Agreed! Given the style, tactic, and intent of the essay, Judge Napolitano does know that our government only permits freedom so long as it is exercised as the government pleases. He also knows all the others “ifs” are, in fact, currently a reality. However, I’m not sure he accepts that Freedom and government of any form or size are mutually exclusive. Even a minimal government (like a government that follows the U.S. Constitution) is, philosophically, no different from our government today, because the entire point of government is to limit freedom. Contemplating this particular “what if” from the essay in the context of small government leads to the same conclusion as it does under our authoritarian state today. The smallest possible government would still only permit freedom so long as it is exercised as the government pleases. My “what if” is, “what if the government actually permitted freedom?”(Answer: It would cease to exist!) Of course the point of Napolitano’s essay was to stimulate people to recognize that “what if” is happening right now and I believe the essay is quite good. I would like people to realize that our Constitution doesn’t solve the “what if” that I quoted. Government is still force. Only the non-aggression principle solves the problem and acceptance of the non-aggression principle implies the acceptance of a stateless society. I would prefer to return to the days of our former Constitutional Republic, because it’s a step in the right direction, but I hope society will one day embrace the non-aggression principle. Sadly, I think a return is very unlikely; I also think government can only run in one direction and it’s the direction our government has run since the day it was founded.
@calinb7 @Lady I too hope that society (which is to say, people) will embrace the non-aggression principle. It ought to be taught as being the basis of all moral and legal rules. But the fact is, we do need some kind of government, because there are people out there who do commit acts of aggression, otherwise known as crimes, and without some organized means of dealing with them, society would collapse, or be taken over by them. So we will never have a “stateless society” that works. A minimal state is the best compromise. We need a government that is strong enough to protect our rights, but not strong enough to take them away. Is that actually possible? A good question.
@calinb7 @Lady I too hope that society (which is to say, people) will embrace the non-aggression principle. It ought to be taught as being the basis of all moral and legal rules. But the fact is, we do need some kind of government, because there are people out there who do commit acts of aggression, otherwise known as crimes, and without some organized means of dealing with them, society would collapse, or be taken over by them. So we will never have a “stateless society” that works. A minimal state is the best compromise. We need a government that is strong enough to protect our rights, but not strong enough to take them away. Is that actually possible? A good question.
What if we finally recognized all these thugs, Governments and financiers all unite in decision making to support their idea of rule and WE the PEOPLE do not unite in anyone thing because we are too busy trying to be right and working to make others wrong?
What if we actually woke up to the fact that our Governments in this country are corporate Governments and therefore do not stand for the constitution?
What if we recognized the answers on what to do resides and is spelled out in our Declaration of Independence to declare ourselves as sovereign from these idiots?
What if we finally looked in our mirrors and realized the only thing allowing this to continue is starring at us?
What if Liberty has only ever meant to be free from and independent of the idiots of dominance who have only decided they rule?
What if the Constitution was only put here for this reason and it is only WE the PEOPLE who are not upholding it?
What if our own ignorance is really related to our lack of knowledge from the Declaration of Independence and its documented truths to decide from?
What then should we start with?
What if we finally recognized all these thugs, Governments and financiers all unite in decision making to support their idea of rule and WE the PEOPLE do not unite in anyone thing because we are too busy trying to be right and working to make others wrong?
What if we actually woke up to the fact that our Governments in this country are corporate Governments and therefore do not stand for the constitution?
What if we recognized the answers on what to do resides and is spelled out in our Declaration of Independence to declare ourselves as sovereign from these idiots?
What if we finally looked in our mirrors and realized the only thing allowing this to continue is starring at us?
What if Liberty has only ever meant to be free from and independent of the idiots of dominance who have only decided they rule?
What if the Constitution was only put here for this reason and it is only WE the PEOPLE who are not upholding it?
What if our own ignorance is really related to our lack of knowledge from the Declaration of Independence and its documented truths to decide from?
What then should we start with?