Ron Paul warned against the surveillance state we are living in now 12 years ago
A few, very few people that walked the halls of Congress were as “forward-thinking” as former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who argued against the dangers of the Patriot Act in 2001.
In today’s Texas Straight Talk, Dr. Paul says the events we are experiencing today, government surveillance of our telephone calls, internet usage, etc, is no surprise to him and others like Judge Napolitano, who have been sounding the warning sirens since that dreadful October 2001 day.
You Tube screen shot
Like many expansions of federal government power, it is in the name of national security, and the Patriot Act was no different. And it was supposed to be temporary as Paul says, “Some of us were arguing back in 2001 with the introduction of the so-called PATRIOT Act that it would pave the way for massive US government surveillance—not targeting terrorists but rather aimed against American citizens. We were told we must accept this temporary measure to provide government the tools to catch those responsible for 9/11. That was nearly twelve years and at least four wars ago.”
“We should know by now that when it comes to government power-grabs, we never go back to the status quo even when the “crisis” has passed. That part of our freedom and civil liberties once lost is never regained. How many times did the PATRIOT Act need renewed? How many times did FISA authority need expanded? Why did we have to pass a law to grant immunity to companies who hand over our personal information to the government?”
Dr. Paul points out that the likes of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) , House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and that ilk, described as “Knee-jerk defenders of the police state” responded positively to the NSA actions saying, “because the government needs to know what the enemy is up to.”
Paul says, “Those who take an oath to defend the Constitution from its enemies both foreign and domestic should worry about such statements.”
What justifies trashing the Constitution?
Paul recollects about a 2011 speech when the Patriot Act was up for renewal back in 2011:
“If you want to be perfectly safe from child abuse and wife beating, the government could put a camera in every one of our houses and our bedrooms, and maybe there would be somebody made safer this way, but what would you be giving up? Perfect safety is not the purpose of government. What we want from government is to enforce the law to protect our liberties.”
“What most undermines the claims of the Administration and its defenders about this surveillance program is the process itself. First the government listens in on all of our telephone calls without a warrant and then if it finds something it goes to a FISA court and get an illegal approval for what it has already done! This turns the rule of law and due process on its head”, Paul states.
Paul tips his hat to Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story in the Guardian last week saying, while “There are calls for the persecution of Greenwald and the other whistle-blowers and reporters. They should be defended, as their work defends our freedom.”
Dr. Paul should give himself some kudos for defending American’s freedoms. Someone recently said Ron Paul was warning us 1984 back in 1984. So true.
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