[Peace-discuss] Freedoms Lost Under G.W. Bush

Sun Feb 6 22:45:54 CST 2005

[Note the source of this piece, at the end.  --CGE]

	Freedoms Lost Under G.W. Bush
	by Chuck Baldwin

Anyone who dares to oppose or even question Bush must be regarded as
enemies of America or even as enemies of God.

February 1, 2005--Supporters and apologists for President G.W. Bush will
often assail my assertion that the Bush administration has done more to
dismantle constitutional protections of our liberties than any president
in modern memory. It seems that these people believe that until federal
Storm Troopers knock down the doors of their homes and drag them off to
the gulags, they have lost no freedoms. Nothing could be further from the
truth.

If history is any teacher, it instructs us in the incremental process that
elitists use to implement their totalitarian agenda. The first step is to
use an incessant, highly orchestrated propaganda. For all practical
purposes, the major media in the United States is providing that
propaganda. At the national level, there is hardly any investigative
journalism going on. Instead, the national press corps has become little
more than lazy lackeys for the White House.

The second step is to lay the foundation for totalitarianism by passing
legislation that may later be used against the citizenry. And that is
exactly what the Bush administration has very successfully accomplished.
It very adroitly succeeded where the Clinton administration failed.

For example, most conservatives would be surprised to learn that the
Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security was the brainchild of one
William Jefferson Clinton. However, a recalcitrant Republican Congress
denied Clinton the opportunity to implement these plans. Of course, with
the Republican, G.W. Bush, serving as President, that same Republican
Congress was all too eager to pass these bills into law.

Whether or not individual Americans have been personally subjected to
tyranny as a result of lost freedoms doesn't change the fact that they
have already lost these freedoms.

The third step is to demonize and marginalize anyone and everyone who
opposes the government's plans and ambitions. Such opponents are
characterized as "unpatriotic," "obstructionist," "uncompassionate," or
even "ungodly." Once again, the Bush minions have very skillfully done
just that. Anyone who dares to oppose or even question Bush must be
regarded as enemies of America or even as enemies of God.

Of course, the last step is to begin using the power and force of
government to physically silence or remove those who are determined to
require such treatment. And, as Germany's National Socialists proved, by
the time this happens, there is no one around who is capable of coming to
the assistance of such people.

For those who are willing to objectively analyze Bush's actions and
policies, the truth is clearly seen: this President has systematically put
in place laws, policies, and bureaucracies that can, are, and will
continue to strip the American citizenry of the constitutional protections
of their liberties.

Following are examples of freedoms which President Bush and his fellow
Republicans in Congress have already expunged (as reported by the
Associated Press):

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political
institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror
investigations.

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration
hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and
has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public records questions.

FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any
other records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed
information related to a terror investigation.

RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison
jailhouse conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to
Americans accused of crimes.

FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize
Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror
investigation.

RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans
indefinitely without a trial.

RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being
able to confront witnesses against them.

That good citizens are compliant and unconcerned regarding G.W. Bush's
propensity to trample constitutional freedoms bespeaks a great ignorance
or a great apathy, or both.

These rights have already been lost! Whether individual Americans have
been personally subjected to the resultant tyranny or not doesn't change
the fact that they have already lost these freedoms! This fact, alone,
should be enough for any studious lover-of-liberty to be outraged.

That good citizens are compliant and unconcerned regarding G.W. Bush's
propensity to trample constitutional freedoms bespeaks a great ignorance
or a great apathy, or both.

Â© 2005 Chuck Baldwin. This article was originally circulated at
chuckbaldwinlive.com and is republished in the Chronicle with permission
of the author. The author, a minister who holds two doctorates of
divinity, hosts a radio program called "Chuck Baldwin Live,' whose
broadcast area includes the Florida Panhandle and Southern Alabama. The
program is described on its website as "conservative, Christian, pro-life,
pro-family, and patriotic. We support constitutional government and the
Bill of Rights. We hold fast to the principles and values expressed by the
Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence." The author was the
Constitution Party's 2004 vice-presidential candidate on a ticket headed
by Michael Peroutka of Millersville, Md., a graduate of Loyola College in
Maryland and the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Chuck Baldwin may be reached at chuck at chuckbaldwinlive.com, or visit his
website at chuckbaldwinlive.com.

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expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

This story was published on February 1, 2005.