The Federalist: David Corbin & Matt Parks: Liberty and The Bill of Rights

Source:The New Democrat

In that entire piece by David Corbin and Matt Parks I found one thing that I agree with them on. Having to do with two of our constitutional rights that have been weaken since the so-called War on Terror was declared by President Bush in 2001. The First Amendment dealing with Freedom of Press, which is critical in any liberal democracy. And the Fourth Amendment which protects our Right to Privacy and perhaps our Fifth Amendment which protects our property rights. All of these rights are critical in any liberal democracy. But since the declaration of the War on Terror and the Bush Administration and Obama Administration has been so intelligence hungry and believe they can at the very least stretch our constitutional rights to protect our security.

With the Bush Administration it was Judy Miller in 2002-03 and believe another reporter from The New York Times. And the Bush Administration believing these reporters had information about suspected terrorists that they weren’t releasing and threatened them with prison time if they didn’t give up their sources and information. The Obama Administration had similar stories involving Fox News and the AP in the last few years. The Neoconservatives have won the War on Terror at least the debate inside of the U.S. Government about what is more important in America. Our security or our liberty and security has been winning ever since 2001. And we had a neoconservative Republican Administration that enforced their neoconservative War on Terror from 2001-09. And now a progressive Democratic Administration conducting the same war with the same policies as the last.

As the great libertarian philosopher Milton Friedman who preferred to be viewed as a Liberal once said, you can’t have security without liberty. And I would add and vice-versa that you have to have both. If you’re not secure you don’t have freedom. But without liberty you might be protected from terrorists, foreign invaders and domestic criminals, but now you have to worry about your own government and what they might do to you. Because you don’t have liberty and a basic set of constitutional rights to protect you. Because now you live in a police state. You live in Soviet Russia and perhaps even Putin Russia, or Syria or some other hell hole on Earth like that. Which is not what America is about and perhaps what our last two president’s don’t understand.