Don't get me wrong- I'm not supporting Ron Paul for
President. His inflexible interpretation of the Constitution
would make the nation ungovernable.
That said, there are provisions in our founding
document that are inviolable. And on those points, there
is no greater advocate than Dr. Paul.
His commentary below- taken from his website- is a prime
example of what drives me nuts about him. The first portion
eloquently deals with the continuing decay of our protection
against unreasonable search and seizure. The last half veers
off into the murky depths of Second Amendment selectivism,
the folks who only read "the right of the people to
keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" but skip
over the qualifying bit about "A well regulated
militia." Here's his commentary:
-----
If you thought the "Transportation Security
Administration" would limit itself to conducting
unconstitutional searches at airports, think again. The
agency intends to assert jurisdiction over our nation's
highways, waterways, and railroads as well. TSA launched a
new campaign of random checkpoints on Tennessee highways
last week, complete with a sinister military-style
acronym–VIP(E)R—as a name for the program.
As with TSA's random searches at airports, these roadside
searches are not based on any actual suspicion of criminal
activity or any factual evidence of wrongdoing whatsoever by
those detained. They are, in effect, completely random. So
first we are told by the U.S. Supreme Court that American
citizens have no Fourth Amendment protections at border
crossings, even when standing on U.S. soil. Now TSA takes
the next logical step and simply detains and searches U.S.
citizens at wholly internal checkpoints.
The slippery slope is here. When does it end? How many
more infringements on our liberties, our property, and our
basic human rights to travel freely will it take before
people become fed up enough to demand respect from their
government? When will we demand that the government heed
obvious constitutional limitations, and stop treating
ordinary Americans as criminal suspects in the absence of
probable cause?
The real tragedy occurs when Americans incrementally
become accustomed to this treatment on the roads just as
they have become accustomed to it in the airports. We
already accept arriving at the airport two or more hours
before a flight to get through security; will we soon have
to build in an extra two or three hours into our road trips to
allow for checkpoint traffic?
Worse, some people are lulled into a false sense of
security and are actually grateful for this added police
presence! Should we really hail the expansion of the police
state as an enhancement to safety? I submit that an attitude
of acquiescence to TSA authority is thoroughly dangerous,
un-American, and insulting to earlier freedom-loving
generations who built this country.
I am certain people will complain about this, once they
have to sit in stopped traffic for a few extra hours to
allow for random searches of cars. However, I am also
certain it merely will take another "foiled" plot to silence
many people into gladly accepting more government
mismanagement of safety.
Vigilant, observant, law-abiding, gun-owning citizens
defend themselves and stop crimes every day before police
can respond. That is the source of real security in America:
the Second Amendment right to defend oneself. The answer is for
people to be empowered to protect themselves. Yet how many
weapons might these checkpoints confiscate? Even when
individual go through all the legal hoops of licensing and
permits, the chances of harassment or outright confiscation
of weapons and detention of citizens when those weapons are
found at a TSA checkpoint is extremely high.
Disarming the highways and filling them full of
jack-booted thugs demanding to see our papers is no way to
make them safer. Instead, it is a great way to expand
government surveillance powers and tighten the noose around
our liberties.
-Ron Paul
The thing I admire about Paul is that he speaks
in complete sentences and delivers well-formed thoughts.
I may not agree with all of them, and some I would oppose
with every fiber of my being. But there's no question in
my mind that Paul loves this country, and he's honest and
sincer in his efforts to represent the people.
President Paul? I can't support that. But Congressman
Paul, or Senator Paul? I have to admit that he'd probably
get my vote.
But there's no way I'd live in Texas. I like the guy,
but even patriotism has its limits.
Categories:
Fourth Amendment,
Second Amendment
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