Kucinich's Prophetic "Prayer for America" Speech - Feb 17, 2002

Why are so many Americans oblivious as to how fragile this republic truly is? They go about their daily lives accepting what they have because they are, in the final analysis, Americans. The greatest and most free. Nothing can challenge US. Well, unless one is trying to board an airplane, enter a school, attend a ballgame. Those are minor problems compared to being 'safe'. Don't fucking kid yourselves. Your freedom is much more important than all that.

Let us pray that our nation will remember that the unfolding of the promise of democracy in our nation paralleled the striving and accomplishment of civil rights. That is why we must challenge the rationale of the Patriot Act. We must ask why should America put aside guarantees of constitutional justice?

How can we justify in effect canceling the First Amendment and the right of free speech, and the right to peacefully assemble?

How can we justify, in effect, the canceling the Fourth Amendment, probable cause, the prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure?

How can we justify, in effect, canceling the Fifth Amendment, nullifying due process, allowing for indefinite incarceration without a trial?

How can we justify, in effect, canceling the Sixth Amendment, the right to prompt and public trial?

How can we justify, in effect, canceling the Eighth Amendment which protects against cruel and unusual punishment?

We cannot justify widespread wiretaps and internet surveillance without judicial supervision, let alone with it.

Dennis Kucinich gets it and he's worried as should be all Americans. Please read all of his presentation. He does an excellent job of voicing his concerns.

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Note: Headline links to source.

Police State: Push for new UK stop and search laws

If this goes into law, will the US be far behind? Not if the Bush administration is still in office.

Its a fucking race to the bottom. Any bets on who'll win?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is planning to give police the power to stop and search people without giving a reason, sources have told the BBC. It comes as Tory leader David Cameron urged greater use of stop and search to combat gun and knife crime. The two leaders clashed earlier in the Commons with Mr Cameron urging Mr Brown to scrap forms officers must fill in when they stop someone.

They're missing the obvious solution. Profile everyone and throw the miscreants in prison before they can do the crime.

Via The Signs.

Police State, Inc.

What I fail to understand is why the idiot and his henchmen keep piling on with this spying.

Do they believe the GOP will win the presidency? Do they want a Democrat to have such ridiculous power?

Staying with what they had in place makes some (little) sense, but to keep adding to it at this point is just plain stupid.

For U.S. citizens, however, the combination of NGA imagery and NSA signals intelligence in a domestic situation could threaten important constitutional safeguards against unwarranted searches and seizures. Kate Martin, the director of the Center for National Security Studies, a nonprofit advocacy organization, has likened the NAO plan to “Big Brother in the Sky.” The Bush administration, she told the Washington Post, is “laying the bricks one at a time for a police state.”

Via No Quarter.

A post that should get you thinking

I'll give you just a couple examples from that post.

If the United States were a free country, its citizens’ mail, phone calls and electronic communications never would be subject to warrantless government snooping.

If the United States were a free country, citizens’ right to buy, own and bear firearms never would be infringed, save for convicted felons.

BTW, in the comments it seems the first point was not challenged, but the second was. And that challenge was not about citizen's rights to have firearms, but challenged the assertion convicted felons should be denied such a rights.

As I said, it'll make you think.

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