My Take: Be Afraid!

Be very afraid.

I admit that I did not watch the debates last evening, but I have been reading the accounts of the proceedings.

One of the common themes was a continuing assault on our Constitutional rights.

Between keeping people out of the country on religious grounds and the discussions of what the government should know about us, from the New York Times article, our Constitutional protections are under attack:

“I promise you, the next time there is an attack on this country, the first thing people are going to want to know is, why didn’t we know about it and why didn’t we stop it?” Mr. Rubio said. “And the answer better not be, ‘Because we didn’t have access to records or information that would have allowed us to identify these killers before they attack.’ ”

Enforcing something like this would strip Americans of privacy.

In a related issue, the ACLU is looking into the use of the No Fly List. In an article titled, Until the No Fly List is Fixed, It Shouldn't be used to Restrict People's Freedoms. 

I understand that many people scratch their heads and ask, why not? But the simple answer is that placing people on the No Fly list is arbitrary and incomplete. There is also no due process! All Constitutional violations. I urge you to read the ACLU article to understand the Constitutional implications associated with the No Fly list. Denying people access to protected freedoms based upon an arbitrary list compounds the offense.

Even more frightening, the government uses the phrase "predictive judgement" in determining whether to place people on the No Fly list. That sounds like a movie called, The Minority Report. I am not against the No Fly list, just the lack of oversight and due process associated with placing people on it.

My Take: Fear must not overtake our guaranteed freedoms or we will soon become a totalitarian society with no freedom.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD