Once we cut down civil liberty so that police may better pursue criminals and terrorists, where do we stand?

Question

when government turns on us?

Americans have forgot that we need protection from government more than we need protection from criminals.
If the Founding Fathers believed it was necessary to tie down a very weak and limited central government with the Constitution and Bill of Rights, these protections are certainly more necessary now that our government has grown in size, scope and power beyond the imagination of the Founding Fathers.

Ronnie how do you explain the elderly woman gunned down yesterday by the police searching for drugs at the wrong house?

Our founding fathers authored the bill of rights to protect us against the govenrment.

Thomas Jefferson called the governement a necessary evil that needed to be closely monitored

Answer 1

Police have always asked for more powers, but when these powers have been granted, they have been abused, and not used for the intended purpose.
For example, Anti-terrorism measures are more often used against peaceful protesters than suspected terrorists.
The founding fathers created a system of government primarily to protect the rights of themselves (the rich), but they realized that too much power in hands of the government could lead to a fascist police state.
The civil rights we have now were not given to us we had to fight for every one of them, now they are being taken away, but only as long as the people allow this to happen.
The government is very scared of the people, and justifiably so, it is only a matter of time till their clique is kicked out of office, and a more representative and participatory system of government is formed.

Answer 2

I just love the way that, in some very small and narrow minds, the Police are always the bad guys. I hear this a lot from people who love to pontificate on what others should be doing but have never lifted one of their own fingers to help another human being. More protection from government than from criminals? An idiotic statement like that just showcases how spoiled and how ignorant a lot of people in this country have become. I hope for your sake that you never find yourself in the position of facing a criminal without having the protection of a Police Officer but it would serve you right if it did. What makes you think that an old lady doesn't have the ability to pull a trigger and send your sorry butt to the promised land? We hit a drug house one time and the dealer's 86 year old mother was busily chucking packages of cocaine out the back window. I also investigated the murder of a 7 year old girl by a 79 year old man. Age doesn't matter.

Answer 3

You stand in a safer place than you did before the police were allowed to better pursue the criminals they are trying to protect you from.

If you want to self govern with no interference, better be prepared to self-defend as well. I am not saying this as a threat or a put-down; just that if people inhibit or restrain their law enforcement until the police can do nothing, then they should be prepared for the police to do nothing.
It is very frustrating to hear people alternate between "Where were the police?" and "Why don't the police leave us alone?" It usually translates into: "I want you to go after others when they commit crimes, but leave me alone when I do the same thing."
It is equally frustrating to listen to people complain about how the police do nothing about crime, then complain when the police become very pro-active, and it affects them or someone they know because they get in trouble or they are questioned about their activities.

As for the woman that was killed in a shoot-out with Atlanta PD - she shot them first. She wounded all 3 officers before they returned fire. I think that if someone was shooting at you, you would defend yourself as well. And not all old people are nice, gentle, law abiding citizens. Just because someone gets old, doesn't mean that they stop acting like a criminal. I wonder if the outcry would be as loud if she had killed those officers instead of the other way around.

Answer 4

It makes us the pawns on a very unstable middle-ground, where justice shrinks and the legal process becomes less important. It's mob rule in a police state. The ultimate anarchy that is only monitored by the powers that be. We become the slaves to the small liberties afforded to us if we are the good little puppets that follow the doctrines and confining laws made for us by our government. Look out world America is making a turn for the worst. It's go for broke or be broken and we're too prideful and arrogant to even bend.

Answer 5

It won't be long before the Government will need to put drugs in the water supply to keep people complacent.

Oh did you say the CEO needed a raise so my health care package is no longer any good. BTW what is on the Oprah show today. Wallmart has a sale on snow tires only $4.99 each... What take a walk? OH NO there are terrorist out there. I love this new water don't you

Go big Red Go

Answer 6

We don't need to curtail civil liberties.
We need to curtail government stupidity

opening paragraph from link
"MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Six months to the day after Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi flew planes into the World Trade Center, the Immigration and Naturalization Service notified a Venice, Florida, flight school that the two men had been approved for student visas. "

http://archives.cnn.com/2002/us/03/12/in...

This ought to be on Ripleys "Believe It Or Not"
along with the hide of the deadwood civil servant who rubber stamped those student visas.
How stupid can they be?

That's not a boo boo ...that is a major blunder

Answer 7

A quote that has been attributed to both B.Franklin and T.Jefferson sums up what the founding fathers thought of government authority:

"...people willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both...."

I am hoping ( against odds ) that our people will reflect their dis-approval of government interference in our lives....Preferably at the POLLS!!...But T.Jefferson warned that a 'revolution' is possible and called for every 200 yrs...;-)

Answer 8

I love the "if you're not a criminal you have nothing to hide" answers. Are people really willing to give up their rights and freedoms using a line of thought like that? Prohibition turned people into criminals. How many thought they were criminals for drinking? Anyone can be turned into a criminal with one stroke of a pen in the wrong person's hands. Today you are free, tomorrow you may be a terrorist because of what you write on here. Peace.

Answer 9

I have never worried about the police breaking into my house nor my neighbors house in my whole life. I know some are crooked, but they never go that far. However, many of my friends have been robbed in their house at gunpoint and in restaurants and on and on. There are 10 times more deaths in washington DC as there is in Iraq.

My rights have never been abused by the police, and so I go with the police every time. You sound like a democrat.

Answer 10

Once the Government turns on us, the unprepared will be slaves.
We should never forget Thomas Jefferson's wisdom.
The old lady didn't forget Thomas Paine's wisdom.