HOW MUCH GOVERNMENT IS TOO MUCH?

WAY TO MUCH GOVERNMENT

In the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers said one of the reasons for their rebellion against King George is that he had “erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their Substance.”

Those brave gentlemen wouldn’t believe how many Swarms of Officers harass us today, or how much of our Substance they consume. Have you flown anywhere lately? How many Transportation Security Administration employees did you see — many of whom were guarding hallways no one was using.

Pity you if you ever do fall afoul of some Federal bureaucrat. Our government has created so many rules and regulations and has so many agents and inspectors to enforce them, there is no way on earth you can obey them all. If they want to get you for something, they can. And worst of all, in many cases you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

We have gone from what once was “the land of the free and the home of the brave” to what is rapidly becoming the land of the cowed and the cowardly. Untold millions of our countrymen (some legal, some not) feed at the public trough — and get angry if we suggest cutting back their goodies by even a penny.

All of that is bad enough. But now our government has decided that it is above the law.  It enforces laws it agrees with and ignores laws it doesn’t agree with.  It even goes so far as to sue States that attempts to enforce those laws.  It now has the right to listen in on any conversation it wishes; open any mail; snoop on any citizen any time and any where; accuse us of all sorts of crimes and misdemeanors; and incarcerate us at will.

And, (do I dare open this can of worms?) because I know very few will agree with me on this one.   How about the right to murder any U.S. citizen the government decides deserves it.

If you think I’m exaggerating, then consider for a moment the fate of Anwar al-Awlaki.  I don’t disagree that this demented jihadist was one of the bad guys. I’ll even grant that this renegade U.S. citizen did all he could to give “aid and comfort” (the Constitutional definition of treason) to our enemies. But so what?

As far as I know, he was never accused of a crime by any legal authority in this country or abroad.  Not only did he never get a chance to face his accusers, there was never a trial or even a hearing by any court, military or civilian.

Yet the President of the United States ordered his death. And an unmanned drone, armed with a Hellfire missile, carried out the execution.

This sort of thing was common in Nazi Germany and the USSR and still is in North Korea and other places, but never in the United States.

If you aren’t concerned because you feel this treasonous scum bag deserved to die, just remember, allowing this precedent is the beginning of a slippery slope.  Americans should be outraged by this, but sadly, far too many will just accept it blindly and casually, just like the citizens of Germany did at first.

I rarely ever agree with the ACLU, in fact I have on several occasions advocated the abolishment the organization.   This is one of the few times they got it right when they declared:  “This is a program under which American citizens far from any battlefield can be executed by their own government without judicial process and on the basis of standards and evidence that are kept secret not just from the public but from the courts.”

Former Vice President Dick Cheney praised the Obama Administration for the attack, as did the majority of our congress with the most outspoken exception being Ron Paul.

The strongest support for the assignation I have seen was from the editors of The Wall Street Journal, who promptly denounced what they called “the caviling” over Awlaki’s death.  After a lengthy introduction explaining why such anonymous executions are “manifestly legal,” the Journal concluded:  “For ridding the world of the menace that was Awlaki — even while ignoring the advice of some of its ideological friends — the Administration deserves congratulations and thanks.”

I’m sorry, but this is not the America I grew up in. And it is not the America I want to see my children and my children’s children inherit.

I’m not saying this country has a squeaky clean past.  Abraham Lincoln suspended the U.S. Constitution for anyone he considered any enemy of the State, whether Northerner or Southerner.  Franklin D. Roosevelt, in one of the most shameful moments of a Presidency that did our nation much harm, ordered 110,000 Japanese Americans to be rounded up at gunpoint and herded into concentration camps.  During my lifetime, legal authorities in the South often conspired to break the law to deny black citizens their civil rights, and even encouraged mob violence.

All of this was bad. And like most Americans who give any of it a moment’s thought, I regret it happened.

I feel the same way today about the frightening growth in the cost, the power, and the wicked aggressiveness of our national government.  Nobody has called me an enemy of the State… yet.  But they may if and when they read this.

I don’t know about you, but I’m becoming more and more frightened by more and more of the actions of our government.  As I said, this isn’t the America I knew and revered. How about you?  Will you accept these changes quietly and casually or will you let your voice be heard?