The Fourth Amendment

In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed to law the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban, which thankfully sunsetted in 2004. This Bill was so Unconstitutional that memberships in the National Rifle Association skyrocketed to over four million members and the Gun Owners of America (of which yours truly is a Life Member) passed half a million.

Because of gun control, the Democrats got destroyed in the 2000s. At first, I celebrated. Good riddance I thought. As it turned out, as much as Democrats hated the 2nd Amendment, the neo-Cons hate the 4th Amendment.

I thought the War on Drugs was bad enough an assault on the 4th. Now we have a War on Terrorism that has given us things like the PATRIOT Act, which is anything but patriotic. In fact, it's downright communistic.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about, right? That's what they tell you. You know who else used to say that? Nazis and Communists. They loved that line. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.

Well, I have plenty to hide. There's a lot about my life that I'd rather not share with the world. I value my privacy, and so did the Founding Fathers. That's why they wrote the Fourth Amendment. Here it is for you, unedited, uncut:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Beautiful, isn't it? That means that your body, your homes, your records, and everything else about you is safe from the prying eyes of a "for your own good" government. Franklin, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers were sick of the English King's thugs watching every move they made. That's why they wrote it, so that you and I won't have to worry about our government doing the same thing. Thank you Founding Fathers.

Now, I'm not going to go off on the PATRIOT Act and why it's so evil. Instead, I'll lazily quote Representative Bartlett. In the meantime, let's work together on letting the PATRIOT Act sunset.

"The presumption of our innocence until the government first proves we are guilty is a bedrock principle of our nation. This inaccurately named bill reverses this fundamental concept. I refuse to eradicate the constitutional protections that safeguard all of our rights as individuals. These are the rights that have made us a free society for more than 200 years. Under this so-called PATRIOT Act, each of us faces the prospect that the government could treat us as guilty with very little evidence. It could investigate us in secret based upon unproven complaints against us. That puts all of us as individuals at risk and at the mercy of any disgruntled neighbor or coworker who alleges we are involved in terrorist activity. It could be me today, or a neighbor or member of a labor union or church group tomorrow. No one can say where it would end. In fact, there is no end in this bill."


And especially...

"Supporters argue Americans should have no 'sanctuaries' of privacy. The government should be allowed to investigate us and search for evidence against us anywhere with as few limitations as possible. With this permanent expansion of government powers, we will no longer have areas, such as our homes, that deserve greater privacy protections. That is not the America that I know and love."

-Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD)