Pull up a Chair...

It has recently come to my attention, thanks to the libertarians at http://www.strike-the-root.com that a bill has been passed in Congress called The Military Commissions Act of 2006. It's just fabulous that most people, including those who vote, have no idea what is going on and what those traitors in Congress (notable exception: Ron Paul) are doing. The full bill, which can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c109:3:./temp/~c109o9nN10:e617 , has finally taken away our long established rights recognized (NOT granted) by the 5th and 6th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
`(1) UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANT- (A) The term `unlawful enemy combatant' means--

`(i) a person who has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States or its co-belligerents who is not a lawful enemy combatant (including a person who is part of the Taliban, al Qaeda, or associated forces); or
`(ii) a person who, before, on, or after the date of the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, has been determined to be an unlawful enemy combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal or another competent tribunal established under the authority of the President or the Secretary of Defense.

Well, you probably don't need me to tell you why putting this sort of power into the hands of two rather dishonest men is a bad idea- why don't we just have a monarchy or other dictatorship? The problem is that this gives a grand jury's power to the President or Secretary of Offense. If you read a little further into the Act, you will find other troubling provisions, such as the ability of a tribunal judge to introduce hearsay evidence or coerced statements (torture). There is also no prohibition against double jeopardy, that is, you may be tried twice for the same crime. The ideological founder of our legal system, William Blackstone, noted that it is better that 20 guilty men go free than an innocent man convicted. Why? Punishment does no good for the innocent, as the crime has already been committed, but harm is caused when someone is wrongly convicted. If someone has committed a crime, then prove it fair and square in court, not some kangaroo tribunal. It should be obvious when a crime is committed because people or property is damaged. The definintion of crime will definitely be a topic for a later post, but back to the point. We like to criticize other goverments for their tyranny and authoritarianism while conveniently overlooking our own. But look no further. However, that might be hard if you have a beam in your eye.
But who am I kidding? The Constitution really is just a g--damned piece of paper like our President said. The abuse of the Constitution started barely more than a decade after its creation, with the Alien and Sedition Acts (1st Amd). By the way, I do encourage you to do some reading. Brush up on that history. The Constitution was further abused with the Federal Reserve Act(Art. I, Sec 8-5), and also the Espionage Act during WWI(1st Amd), and then, there was Roosevelt and his 2000+ executive orders. If you read the last and most important Amendment in the Bill of Rights, the 10th, you will understand why Roosevelt's dictatorship and most legislation since his time has been unconstitutional. But most people don't care. They blabber about the Constitution as if they knew any of it, as if there were something called separation of church and state in the 1st Amendment (there isn't). The fact that our representatives in that house of crime swear an oath to uphold it makes them all liars except Ron Paul. And you, the people of the United States continue to elect them. You have no excuse if you voted for one of these public "servants." The Constitution does recognize some important natural rights that God has imbued us with, but it also allowed abuse by creating a central government with so much power. That was the logical result of letting the government decide what its own powers were. Oh well, I guess the Anti-Federalists were right. It's too late now.
Let's face it, the Constitution was a mistake, and now we are paying the price of powerful national government. Besides the abusive central government created by the Constitution, when you read this paper by libertarian abolitionist legal theorist and political philosopher Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) http://www.lysanderspooner.org/notreason.htm. It is called "Consititution of No Authority" and explains why the Constitution does not legally bind anybody except those who agreed to it. This is great reading for anybody interested in political philosophy, or government, for you statists of the D or R stripes, or for those who like to think, read, and expose themselves to different ideas. If you consider yourself a libertarian, this is mandatory reading.
What is the problem here? The problem is the State. A government will abuse any powers it is given. This has been true with every government that has ever existed. This is because people are flawed. They do not become better people when they serve in a government. There is still the same greed, lust for power, and plotting and criminal conspiracy. What's worse is that they have unlimited resources for wrongdoing and at a certain level, no one has the authority to say no. This is why Locke realized that the "state of nature" or, what could be called anarchy, is not as bad as a large, tyrannical government, because the people committing crimes in the SN are alone or in small groups, rather than a huge conglomerate, and thus, less severe. Governments have been the largest source of death and destruction throughout human history. Look at Assyria, Babylon, Rome, the Muhammad's government, the Mongol Hordes, colonial Europe, the USSR, Nazi Germany, China, and the USA. If you want to say, "My, country right or wrong," keep your mouth shut, or fix it. Otherwise, apologize to all the other supporters of the previously mentioned governments. Make no mistake, the biggest threat to our freedom is and always has been our own government, not any foreign bogeymen. The evidence is clear with regards to our government: They hate us for our freedoms.
It's interesting to be living at a time in which liberty is crumbling before our eyes. The frog will not feel the heat of the water until it is too late to jump. It seems unreal when the warnings of the Founding Fathers are coming alive in plain view. It is too late to reverse the trend. We all know about the frog in boiling water. The late William O. Douglas of the Supreme Court had this to say. “As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”
Unfortunately, we're victims of the majority of people in this country who are voting us into tyranny. They should do a better job or quit. But since that is an unrealistic excpectation, you should get used to the fact that we will soon be living under a very repressive government. Benjamin Franklin noted that those who would trade liberty for security deserve neither and will lose both. Where is the spirit of Patrick Henry? Do we want liberty or death? Liberty and security will disappear right in front of us. There's not much we can do, so just pull up a chair, with a beverage of your choosing, and enjoy the show. And pray to God, our help in ages past.