ARMED-M
______________________________________________________________________________________
The
Armed M is a publication of the 2nd Amendment SIG, a special interest group of
American Mensa Ltd. Opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the writers,
and not of American Mensa, Ltd., which has no opinions. This newsletter is
linked to the Mensa web page WWW.Mensa.org as WWW.2Asig.iqhost.net.
Almost all editions are on the web site.
It takes about two minutes to download each of the sixty editions using
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Feb 2004 I have moved and am now in
Wilmington North Carolina. My E-Mail address is Smith705@Juno.com. I can always
use contributions to the newsletter. If you write something or find something
e-mail it to me I'll put it in the newsletter as space and theme allows. Bob
Smith -----
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Critics
say the incident in California highlights a number of security problems that
have emerged since states began switching to electronic voting machines that use
proprietary software created by private companies.
Voting
companies and election officials insist that rigid certification procedures
ensure the security of the machines.
But
critics say the fact that Diebold could install uncertified software on machines
without the state's knowledge suggests that current certification procedures
cannot ensure the integrity of election systems or, for that matter, election
results.
Kim
Alexander, founder and president of the California Voter Foundation, said,
"Voting companies and election officials who have embraced electronic
voting say that certification procedures and testing are adequate to protect the
integrity of the voting systems.
But
for a vendor to be accused of placing unauthorized software into a voting system
undermines one of the prime arguments they have been making for the past year
and brings into question the integrity of the entire voting system."
Voting-machine
companies and state election officials say that individual states and counties
provide enough protection of the systems to prevent anyone from tampering with
them.
However,
in Alameda County prior to last month's gubernatorial recall election revealed
lax security measures.
This
is not the first time Diebold has been accused of circumventing voting rules and
procedures.
A
former worker in the Diebold warehouse in Georgia has alleged that the company
installed uncertified software patches last year on 22,000 machines that it sold
to Georgia for $56 million.
The
employee, who worked as Diebold's deployment manager in its Georgia warehouse in
July 2002, said workers installed three patches to fix malfunctioning machines
before delivering them to Georgia counties. He said Diebold never notified state
officials about the changes or submitted the patches for review and
certification by an independent testing authority. A fourth patch that state
contractors applied after the machines were delivered to the counties and
shortly before the gubernatorial election in 2002 was passed through an
independent testing authority, according to a state contractor.
Diebold
did not return calls for comment.
The
old precinct paper ballot checked and validated at the LOCAL voting place and
then compared to the next step along the line prevents a great deal of Vote
Fraud.; We will never get rid of all of it but these newer methods go a long
ways to help Vote Fraud prevail over honest voting.
The
old Local voting place, manned by local folks who personally knew the voters
stopped all the voting by ILLEGALS and non-citizens.; In the old days you had to
be US Citizens to vote -; now you can vote; in; American Elections regardless of
your citizenship status and you can vote as often as you can get away with it or
under as many phoney names as you can create.; Just get one of those matricular
counselor cards in a variety of names and American drivers licences to go with
them.
It
isn't *hanging chads* that are the problem; it is devious programmers hired by
the highest bidder
Subject:
literally watching your right to vote disappear
Voters
in three precincts reported that when they attempted to vote for her, the
machines initially displayed an; x; next to her name but then, after a few
seconds, the; x; disappeared...In response to Thompson’s complaints, county
officials tested one of the machines in question yesterday and discovered that
it seemed to subtract a vote for Thompson in about ;one out of a hundred tries,
said Margaret K. Luca, secretary of the county Board of Elections.
By
David Cho Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 6, 2003; Page B01
School
Board member Rita S. Thompson (R), who lost a close race to retain her at-large
seat, said yesterday that the new computers might have taken votes from her.
Voters in three precincts reported that when they attempted to vote for her, the
machines initially displayed an; x; next to her name but then, after a few
seconds, the; x; disappeared. In
response to Thompson's complaints, county officials tested one of the machines
in question yesterday and discovered that it seemed to subtract a vote for
Thompson in about ;one out of a hundred tries, said Margaret K. Luca, secretary
of the county Board of Elections.
;It's
hard not to think that I have been robbed,; said Thompson, whose 77,796 recorded
votes left her 1,662 short, or did they mean she had 1662 less votes, which would mean 832 votes
would swing the election,. She is considering her next step, and said she was
wary of challenging the election results: ;I'm not sure the county as a whole is
up for that. I'm not sure I'm up
for that.;
Meanwhile,
attorneys for local Republicans and GOP candidate Mychele B.
Brickner, who lost her bid to chair the Fairfax County Board of
Supervisors, went before a Circuit Court judge yesterday morning, asking him to
keep 10 voting machines under lock and key and not to include their tabulations
in the results. The machines, from nine precincts scattered across the county,
broke down about midday Tuesday and were brought to the county government center
for repairs and then returned to the polls -- a violation of election law,
Republicans argued. The judge
said the activity logs of all 10 machines would be inspected this week, with
members of both major parties present. ;It's
like Florida in many ways,; said the Republicans' attorney,
Christopher T. Craig, referring to that state's 2000 presidential
ballot-counting controversy. ; This is about ballot integrity. A lot of people
have been telling us they couldn't vote for someone.
.
I
have been hearing that there are a lot of problems; with the county’s new
WINvote computer technology.
As
more details emerged yesterday, county officials defended the system.
Luca insisted that most of the problems had less to do with computer
glitches than human error.
;The
new machines get an A-plus,; she said. ;It's the plan to collect the vote that
gets the failing grade.;
Fairfax
purchased the 1,000 touch-screen vote machines this year from Advanced Voting
Solutions of Frisco, Tex. The machines, which resemble laptop computers, were
used countywide Tuesday for the first time, and the problems that resulted
mirrored what occurred in Montgomery County last year when similar new
technology was used.
November
06, 2003 5:00 a.m. ET
1"An
investigation by California's secretary of state has revealed that Diebold
Election Systems placed uncertified software on electronic voting machines in a
California county.
Voters
in Alameda County, a densely populated region in the San Francisco Bay Area that
includes the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, used a Diebold touch-screen-voting
system utilizing uncertified software in Tuesday's election and in last month's
gubernatorial recall election.
Although
the software was used in at least two elections, Doug Stone, spokesman for the
secretary of state, said voters should not worry about the integrity of the
election results. He said the state tested the software but did not elaborate on
when that testing occurred. Stone
said his office learned late last week about the possibility that uncertified
software may have been used in the machines. The state then launched an
investigation into the matter"halted certification of the AccuVote-TSx, a
newer model of Diebold's touch-screen machines, which were supposed to be used
in California's primary election in March 2004.
Marc
Carrel, assistant secretary of state, surprised Diebold representatives and
others at a meeting of the state's voting systems panel Monday by announcing
that his office had received ;disconcerting information; about the company and
would hold off certification until an investigation was completed.
The
AccuVote-TSx is a modified version of AccuVote-TS, an electronic touch-screen
machine that is used in Alameda and Plumas counties. Los Angeles County also
uses a small number of the machines for votes cast prior to regular election
days.
Diebold
and state election officials say the TSx is lighter and more compact than the TS
and includes minor software modifications from the previous version.
Alameda
County purchased 4,000 touch-screen machines last year at a cost of $12 million.
Before
a state can use a voting system, the software and hardware must be audited by an
independent testing authority that examines the code according to Federal
Election Commission Once the independent authority certifies the system, states
can then test and certify the systems for their polling places.
California
election law requires voting companies to notify state officials when they make
changes to software after certification has been completed. Secretary of state
spokesman Stone said Diebold did not do this when it applied a ;software
upgrade; to systems in Alameda County.
He
said the state's investigation of the Diebold machines is ongoing. Among the
outstanding questions is when the uncertified software was placed on voting
systems and in which elections it was used.
Stone
said the state would be examining ;corrective steps to come up with ways to
ensure that these types of actions do not occur again.;
He
also said it was unclear whether any measures would be taken against Diebold for
its actions since the matter is still under review. The state needs to evaluate
the election law, he said, and investigate what happened with the software.
Alameda
County election officials did not return calls for comment. But Elaine Ginnold,
the county's assistant registrar of voters, told the Oakland Tribune that she
had no idea the uncertified software was used. ;We were upset, to say the
least,; she said.
The
state's decision to delay certification of the new Diebold machines means that
several California counties are waiting to hear whether they will be able to use
them in the 2004 election.
San
Joaquin County in Northern California has purchased 1,600 TSx machines at a cost
of $5.7 million. The machines already have been delivered, but the county does
not have to pay for them until they pass testing and state certification.
Solano
County paid $4.6 million for 1,171 TSx machines. And San Diego County is
currently in negotiations with Diebold to purchase 10,000 TSx machines at a cost
of $30 million.
Critics
say the incident in California highlights a number of security problems that
have emerged since states began switching to electronic voting machines that use
proprietary software created by private companies.
Voting
companies and election officials insist that rigid certification procedures
ensure the security of the machines.
But
critics say the fact that Diebold could install uncertified software on machines
without the state's knowledge suggests that current certification procedures
cannot ensure the integrity of election systems or, for that matter, election
results.
Kim
Alexander, founder and president of the California Voter Foundation, said,
;Voting companies and election officials who have embraced electronic voting say
that certification procedures and testing are adequate to protect the integrity
of the voting systems. But for a vendor to be accused of placing unauthorized
software into a voting system undermines one of the prime arguments they have
been making for the past year and brings into question the integrity of the
entire voting system.;
Voting-machine
companies and state election officials say that individual states and counties
provide enough protection of the systems to prevent anyone from tampering with
them.
However,
a Wired News investigation in Alameda County prior to last month's gubernatorial
recall election revealed lax security measures.
This
is not the first time Diebold has been accused of circumventing voting rules and
procedures.
A
former worker in the Diebold warehouse in Georgia has alleged that the company
installed three uncertified software patches last year on 22,000 machines that
it sold to Georgia for $56 million.
The
employee, who worked as Diebold's deployment manager in its Georgia warehouse in
July 2002, said workers installed three patches to fix malfunctioning machines
before delivering them to Georgia counties. He said Diebold never notified state
officials about the changes or submitted the patches for review and
certification by an independent testing authority. A fourth patch that state
contractors applied after the machines were delivered to the counties and
shortly before the gubernatorial election in 2002 was passed through an
independent testing authority, according to a state contractor Diebold did not
return calls for comment.
We
would be much further ahead financially if we handled all projects at the local
level and didn't allow *government* to siphon off those *handling/laundering
fees* before *gifting us* with those phoney *matching funds*.
This
CONSERVATIVE ALERT prepared for William Vance:
ISSUE:
Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) recently introduced legislation to ensure
American taxpayers are never forced to fund United Nations gun control schemes.
Several of Paul's pro-gun colleagues in the House of Representative have already
cosponsored the bill, which prohibits the use of U.S. tax dollars for any UN
measures that would infringe upon the 2nd Amendment rights of American citizens.
Paul's
bill, entitled the "Right to Keep and Bear Arms Act" (HR 3125),
recognizes that perhaps the greatest threat to our 2nd Amendment rights comes
from global Bureaucrats. The bill cites several examples of UN contempt for both
American sovereignty and gun rights.
In
fact, the United Nations has waged a campaign to undermine Second Amendment
rights in America for more than a decade. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has
called on members of the Security Council to address the "easy
availability" of small arms and light weapons, by which he means all
privately, owned firearms. In response, the Security Council released a report
calling for a comprehensive program of worldwide gun control, a report that
admonishes the U.S. and praises the restrictive gun laws of Red China and
France! Meanwhile, this past June the UN held an anti-gun "Week of Action
against Small Arms" conference.
In
fact, French President Jacques Chirac and the socialist president of Brazil,
Luiz Lula da Silva, both advocate the imposition of a United Nations TAX on
firearms for various utopian purposes.
Paul's
legislation aims to halt the trend toward global gun laws by withdrawing
American funding for UN gun control measures, while reaffirming that the 2nd
Amendment is the law of the land within our borders.
"It's
no surprise that UN bureaucrats want to impose gun control worldwide," Rep.
Paul stated. "They don't respect national sovereignty, and they certainly
don't care about our Constitution. Congress should make it clear that America
will not pay for UN gun control schemes, nor will we allow the disarming of
American citizens."
ACTION
ITEM: Ironically, at the same time
the United Nations was working to prohibit Americans from exercising their
Second Amendment rights to defend themselves, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms was called to investigate the illegal possession of submachine guns by
bodyguards to Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan.
This
is ridiculous. Proposals to tax or otherwise limit rights under the Second
Amendment to the United States Constitution are reprehensible and deserving of
condemnation. Go to our site below to send a FREE editable, pre-written message
to your Representative, urging him or her to support HR 3125, the "Right to
Keep and Bear Arms Act":
Subject:
FW: Pearls of military wisdom
"Aim
towards the Enemy." -Instruction printed on US Rocket Launcher
"When
the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."-U.S. Marine Corps
"Cluster
bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed to always
hit the ground." U.S.A.F.Ammo Troop
"If
the enemy is in range, so are you." -Infantry Journal
"A
slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect
it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit."
-Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
"It
is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed."
-U.S. Air Force Manual
"Try
to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo." -Infantry Journal
"Tracers
work both ways." -U.S. Army Ordnance
"Five-second
fuses only last three seconds." -Infantry Journal
"Bravery
is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
--Col.
David Hackworth
"If
your attack is going too well, you're probably walking into an ambush."
-Infantry Journal
"No
combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection." -Joe Gay
"Any
ship can be a minesweeper ... once." -Anon
"Never
tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." -Unknown Marine Corps
Recruit
"Don't
draw fire; it irritates the people around you." -Your Buddies
(And
lastly)
"If
you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him." --U.S.A.F.
Ammo Troop ____________________________________________________
Your
Bank Account, Your Liberties By George Paine, Warblogging.com Friday, January 2,
2004
http://www.warblogging.com/archives/000783.php
I
went to the bank today. My debit and ATM card had stopped functioning on New
Year's Eve. I was told, in no uncertain terms, that I must visit the bank to
review my account because of "possible fraud".
I
arrived at the bank and went to my banker's office. He saw me coming in and said
"Hello, Mr. Paine, it's been too long." Once pleasantries were out of
the way he asked how he could help me. I explained that my card had stopped
working and that I had been informed over the phone that I would have to come in
and look over my past transactions, that I would have to look for anything
suspicious. That only then could my ATM card -- my sole link to cold, hard cash
-- be reactivated?
So
he pulled up my account on his computer and rotated the monitor so that we could
both see the details of my financial life. He rolled the history back several
months and, together, we set to find anything suspicious. As the pages -- the
days -- rolled by on-screen I realized that these transactions, these little
digital notes, brought back memories. There was that time, at that place, where
I was with that person. It was all there, in green and black.
I
mentioned to him that these transactions brought back memories. He gave me a
knowing smile. He began to extrapolate details of my life, little vignettes,
from the transactions on the screen. He said "So, here, on December 13. You
get a cup of coffee with a friend. You head a few blocks away and get some
Sushi. I hear that restaurant's good. Then you go and take in a show. Oh, here,
yes. You have a couple drinks afterward."
I
look at him, thinking. The man's right. That was, in fact, exactly what I did
that day. As we flipped through the days we started examining Christmas
shopping. He asked if the recipient of a particular gift had liked it. I said
that she did.
This
man, my banker, knows some very private details of my life. He knows where I eat
dinner on a daily basis. He knows where I get my coffee. He knows what bars I go
to, and when I go to them. He knows where and when I travel. He knows how long I
spend in various places, he knows where I like to buy books. He knows that I
have donated to political campaigns, he knows which campaigns, and he knows how
much I have donated.
Once
we had examined the sum of my daily financial life spanning several months we
determined, together, that no fraud had been perpetrated. It was at this point
that my banker reactivated my ATM card. I thanked him very much for the service.
As
we returned to unrelated conversation I noticed a small sign on his desk. It was
a small advertisement, a note from a banking services company. It was printed on
good stock with a flapping, slightly stylized American flag serving as a
backdrop. It was designed like a piece of campaign literature, as if it were
trying too hard to appear patriotic. It read "USA PATRIOT Act compliance
by..."
I
don't remember the name of the company that provided its small sign to my
banker. A quick Google search, however, turns up quite a few companies who offer
such services. One of them is Aquilan. Aquilan offers a product it calls Aquilan
Patriot Manager. They advertise that APM can help financial institutions
"Know Your Customers. 'Red Flag' Suspicious Activity. Prevent Money
Laundering."
My
time with my banker today was innocuous. His hopefully brief foray into the
details of my life were largely at my request, largely for my protection. But
the USA PATRIOT Act requires financial institutions to report "suspicious
activity" to federal law enforcement agencies. As Aquilan's Web site notes,
"For most financial institutions, complex distribution channels, clients
with multiple relationships, and disparate adminstration and transaction systems
make compliance with the USA PATRIOT Act expensive and nearly impossible."
But
here Aquilan's software and the software of so many other companies, including
the one that provided that patriotic sign to my banker make the
"impossible" possible. As Aquilan observes:
Aquilan
Patriot Manager offers the quickest path to full compliance with the USA PATRIOT
Act, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening requirements, Customer
Identification Program (CIP) requirements, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
(FinCEN) rules, and required Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) monitoring.
By extracting essential information from both client and administration systems,
Aquilan helps financial services institutions assemble the 360 view of customer
relationships required to identify suspicious activity and meet regulatory
requirements.
Aquilan's
software works, I am sure, much the same way as the software that identified
possible banking fraud. It works quite the same way as the software that
prevented me from removing cash from my own bank account, the software that
forced me into my bank branch for a half-hour long meeting with my banker. The
software that was wrong, that "red-flagged" my account as showing
fraudulent activity when, in fact, it did not.
Aquilan's
software, and, I'm sure, all other PATRIOT Act verification software, is deeply
flawed. This software is prone to false positives, just like the fraud detection
software that brought me into the bank on my day off. The PATRIOT Act
verification software is as likely to bring the Federal Bureau of Investigation
to my door as the fraud detection software was to bring me to my bank branch. It
is likely to necessitate a full government examination of my finances, of my
habits, of my life.
It
is likely to cause the FBI to pour over my financial records just as my banker
and I did today. And those little innocent vignettes, those little guesses at my
life that my banker engaged in.it is likely to cause the FBI to construct
similar vignettes, to "watch" as I have coffee with a friend and later
take in a show.
On
December 13^th of this year President Bush signed H.R. 2417, the
"Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004". After signing
the bill Bush gave a statement in which he noted that "The executive branch
shall construe these provisions in a manner consistent with the Constitution's
commitment..."
What
I wouldn't give to hear President Bush pronounce some of the tongue-twisters and
verbally dense sentences contained in his statement. Bush says much in the
statement, but he does not mention a key provision of H.R. 2417.
That
provision of H.R. 2417 expands the FBI's powers to access your and my bank
records. On December 17^th I wrote about Bush's signing of the bill, saying that
"the legislation allows John Ashcroft to issue himself a 'National Security
Letter' in order to conduct many searches."
Specifically,
Ashcroft and his FBI no longer need to visit with a judge and explain themselves
when they want to see your or my bank records. They no longer even have to get a
notice from the bank that our banking habits are "suspicious". No
longer can a federal judge say "No, I think you're on a fishing expedition.
You can't see George Paine's banking information."
Now
John Ashcroft or one of his underlings simply have to write down on a piece of
paper that your or my bank records are somehow related to national security.
They must sign this letter and keep it on file. As soon as they do so they may
access my bank records and, like my banker, construct little vignettes for
themselves about my day-to-day life.
If
this doesn't concern you it should. Think back to the skeleton or two that may
be in your closet. That purchase at that shady store, your visit to that
questionable bar, your meeting with that questionable person. All this
information and more can be found or, more dangerously, inferred within your
bank records.
Does
this still not concern you? Well, I won't mention the fact that this new power
given to Ashcroft by Bush's signature is a clear violation of the Fourth
Amendment, which states: 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.
I
understand that for most people the Fourth Amendment, like the entire
Constitution, is little more than a theoretical document. But what you must
understand is that it is written like it is for a reason. It is written, as it
is to prevent the abuse of power. It is written as it is because the Founding
Fathers understood that "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely."
For
an example of this corruption one must look no further than the Federal Bureau
of Investigation itself. Take, for example, the program known as COINTELPRO, a
program conceived "to neutralize political dissidents". I write more
about COINTELPRO in my post on the signing of H.R. 2417. Suffice it to say that
a great many people who had broken no law, who had done nothing wrong, were not
only investigated by the FBI but were the targets of campaigns to
"discredit and publicly destroy" them.
One
must look no further than the Drug Enforcement Administration and Kevin Tamez.
Tamez
is fifty years old and lives in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, a pleasant suburb of
Philadelphia. Until December Tamez served as the Associate Special Agent in
Charge of the DEA's New York office. But on Monday, December 15^th, a 214-count
indictment was issued against Tamez, as Reuters reported at the time. Tamez was
accused of "embezzling DEA funds and using federal resources to conduct
work for a private investigations firm."
What
federal resources did Tamez misappropriate? Tamez was charged, specifically,
with "illegally obtaining information from law enforcement computer systems
and databases and using DEA personnel and resources for work he did for a
private investigations firm."
Imagine
Special Agent Tamez as an FBI agent. Imagine him issuing himself a National
Security Letter and proceeding to pass the information gathered with that Letter
on to his client, perhaps your spouse, perhaps a business competitor. Your bank
records aren't all that Tamez can access. He can access your interactions with
virtually every business that deals in your money -- that is, nearly all. As I
noted earlier, H.R. 2417 allows Tamez to access records "from your auctions
on eBay to your credit card receipts to your insurance records".
It
isn't only Agent Tamez with access to this information. Do you remember
Filegate? That was the scandal in which the White House requested the FBI files
of a number of prominent Republicans -- and got them. The Clinton Administration
requested the files of such Republicans as James Baker, a former Secretary of
State, Secretary of the Treasury and Chief of Staff to a president.
In
fact more than 1,000 FBI files were requested and obtained by the White House.
At the time Judicial Watch (a group which was a significant thorn in the side of
the Clinton Administration and now of the Bush Administration) accused the White
House of using the "Ellen Rometsch strategy", explaining that "By
historical definition, the Ellen Rometsch strategy is the use of FBI files by J.
Edgar Hoover".
Larry
Klayman, chairman and general counsel of Judicial Watch, said that
"Judicial Watch and others believe that this is the Clinton
Administration's last line of defense to its scandals, to smear people, to scare
people, to make sure than they can hold on to power."
This
sounds uncomfortably familiar. The Bush Administration, after all, engaged in
similar but even more egregious behavior recently. After former U.S. Ambassador
to Iraq Joseph Wilson wrote an op/ed piece in the New York Times accusing Bush
of lying about Iraqi uranium procurement efforts the White House leaked
information that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame was an undercover CIA operative.
The leak appeared to be, as Warblogging wrote shortly after, calculated by Karl
Rove "to send a very, very specific message. He wanted everyone to see what
happens when someone speaks out against Bush. He wanted everyone to see the
consequences of contradicting George Bush's lies. Careers end, lives are
destroyed. Those are the consequences, that was the message."
And
so we return to your bank records, to your purchases from Amazon.com, to your
visits to that sketchy bar or the presents purchased for that man or woman who
isn't your spouse. Not only your bank records, but the bank records of
influential politicians opposed to whatever party may currently be in power. The
detailed records and vignettes of lives opposed to whoever may be currently in
the seat of power. And to Valerie Plame, to Filegate, to Special Agent Tamez, to
COINTELPRO.
We
realize that the Fourth Amendment -- and the rest of the Bill of Rights exists
for a reason, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. With H.R. 2417, with
the USA PATRIOT Act, with its ability to detain American citizens indefinitely
without charge or access to attorneys or judges the Bush Administration now has
absolute power. And with the Valerie Plame affair and so many others the Bush
Administration has proved that absolute power does indeed corrupt absolutely.
The
only hope we have now is for the entire electorate to appeal en masse for the
restoration of restraint and accountability to the White House. You and your
friends, you and your coworkers, you and your family must appeal to the press
and to your elected officials for the return of the rule of the Constitution and
reason. You must reassert your civil liberties and insist that White House
aides, overzealous FBI agents and corrupt DEA agents not have access to your
banking records without probable cause. You must insist that your private
details remain private without probable cause. You must insist that you and your
neighbors not be jailed without charge, not be disappeared without lawyers, not
be held without judicial review.
You
must insist that the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they wrote
the Fourth Amendment and the rest of the Constitution and that their wisdom is
no less relevant today than it was in 1776.
Do
not think for a moment that your status as a relatively law abiding and loyal
citizen will save you from the long arm of the government. George Soros recounts
just how little being a law abiding and loyal citizen can do for you when it's
too late. He explains in his latest book how, when he was thirteen, he was
tasked with delivering notices to the Jewish community of Budapest, Hungary
ordering them to appear at the Rabbinical Seminary with food and clothing the
following day. On the advice of his father he informed those he delivered the
notice to that they would be deported when they showed up. One man told him
"They can't do that to me. I've always been a law-abiding citizen."
The following day he was sent to a concentration camp.
I
am not saying that George Bush is going to send you or anyone else to a
concentration camp tomorrow. I am saying, however, that civil liberties are
everyone's responsibility -- and that when the rubber hits the road it matters
not whether you are a law-abiding citizen or not. It matters only whether
someone in power wants you or not.