This guy scares me....

Dick Cheney is one scary mother. I have a feeling that he played a major role in the Administration's decision to forgo the inconveniences of obtaining secret court approval for spying on United States citizens. Check this quote:
"Watergate and a lot of the things around Watergate and Vietnam both during the '70s served, I think, to erode the authority I think the president needs to be effective, especially in the national security area," Cheney said.
(a link to the whole article)
You mean things like using the IRS to punish political opponents, Dick? Or maintaining a list of enemies of the Administration and devising strategies to discredit them? How about calling anyone that disagrees with your policies "unpatriotic," "weak on defense" (read national security) or "shameful"? Does anyone remember, "My country. Love it or leave it."?

I am not a big fan of Cindy Sheehan and the (left) wingnuts around her these days. I realize there are legitimate interests in protecting our country from those seeking to do us harm. But I also subscribe to the theory that if you give up freedom to protect liberty, pretty soon you are left with neither.

The willingness of Cheney and company to obviate the protection of the Constitution in the name of protecting it displays a disturbing trend in our country. Incrementally, we are being overtaken by a goverment intent on protecting us from every threat possible. From both the liberal side and the conservatives. It is a power grab that is escalating in intensity and potential danger.

The framers of the Constitution intended for the goverment to function only with the people's consent. Our inaction and ambivalence toward the current political scene and its stench of influence buying is sliding the land I love toward a tipping point from which the return may well be incredibly high in lives lost or ruined.

The Red Scare of 50s' McCarthyism, the backlash of Watergate, and the taint of anything associated with Jimmy Carter's presidency could pale in comparision to the police state we could become if the consolidation of Executive power and the elimination of any oversight, either judical or legislative, and opposing views through character assassination are unchecked.

Everything is called a war these days. The wars on drugs and illegal immigration allow federal agents to stop northbound traffic on the highways of the Southwest and search the vehicles. The war on drunk drivers allows checkpoints to be randomly set up anywhere and cars and drivers stopped, interrogated and investigated. Curfews to prevent teen violence are in place in many cities, meaning it is possible for police to stop vehicles at will in late hours. Cameras monitor intersections and toll booths with surveillance lens to record the vehicles that go through them. The goverment is allowed to enter any residence at will and claim afterward that it was in the name of either drug trafficking or terrorism suspicion. Assets can be seized without recourse. Guns are becoming the culprit in crime fighting and their registration mandatory.

I know the intention behind each of these was good when begun. But it won't take much for a change to be made, for a manevolent power to tighten its grip and emmasculate its opponents in the name of the common good. All of these could be used to intimidate as well as prevent opposition to the goverment's "leadership." And Dick Cheney may be leading the charge.