Baldwin: Freedoms Lost Under G.W. Bush

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Baldwin: Freedoms Lost Under G.W. Bush

By Chuck Baldwin

 

 

 

Supporters and apologists for President G.W. Bush will often assail my assertion

that the Bush administration has done more to dismantle constitutional

protections of our liberties than any president in modern memory. It seems that

these people believe that until federal Storm Troopers knock down the doors of

their homes and drag them off to the gulags, they have lost no freedoms. Nothing

could be further from the truth.

 

If history is any teacher, it instructs us in the incremental process that

elitists use to implement their totalitarian agenda. The first step is to use an

incessant, highly orchestrated propaganda. For all practical purposes, the major

media in the United States is providing that propaganda. At the national level,

there is hardly any investigative journalism going on. Instead, the national

press corps has become little more than lazy lackeys for the White House.

 

The second step is to lay the foundation for totalitarianism by passing

legislation that may later be used against the citizenry. And that is exactly

what the Bush administration has very successfully accomplished. It very

adroitly succeeded where the Clinton administration failed.

 

For example, most conservatives would be surprised to learn that the Patriot Act

and Department of Homeland Security was the brainchild of one William Jefferson

Clinton. However, a recalcitrant Republican Congress denied Clinton the

opportunity to implement these plans. Of course, with the Republican, G.W. Bush,

serving as President, that same Republican Congress was all too eager to pass

these bills into law.

 

The third step is to demonize and marginalize anyone and everyone who opposes

the government's plans and ambitions. Such opponents are characterized as

" unpatriotic, " " obstructionist, " " uncompassionate, " or even " ungodly. " Once

again, the Bush minions have very skillfully done just that. Anyone who dares to

oppose or even question Bush must be regarded as enemies of America or even as

enemies of God.

 

Of course, the last step is to begin using the power and force of government to

physically silence or remove those who are determined to require such treatment.

And, as Germany's National Socialists proved, by the time this happens, there is

no one around who is capable of coming to the assistance of such people.

 

For those who are willing to objectively analyze Bush's actions and policies,

the truth is clearly seen: this President has systematically put in place laws,

policies, and bureaucracies that can, are, and will continue to strip the

American citizenry of the constitutional protections of their liberties.

 

Following are examples of freedoms which President Bush and his fellow

Republicans in Congress have already expunged (as reported by the Associated

Press):

 

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION: Government may monitor religious and political

institutions without suspecting criminal activity to assist terror

investigations.

 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Government has closed once-public immigration hearings,

has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges, and has encouraged

bureaucrats to resist public records questions.

 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH: Government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other

records if they tell anyone that the government subpoenaed information related

to a terror investigation.

 

RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION: Government may monitor federal prison jailhouse

conversations between attorneys and clients, and deny lawyers to Americans

accused of crimes.

 

FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCHES: Government may search and seize Americans'

papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigation.

 

RIGHT TO A SPEEDY AND PUBLIC TRIAL: Government may jail Americans indefinitely

without a trial.

 

RIGHT TO LIBERTY: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being able to

confront witnesses against them.

 

 

 

 

These rights have already been lost! Whether individual Americans have been

personally subjected to the resultant tyranny or not doesn't change the fact

that they have already lost these freedoms! This fact, alone, should be enough

for any studious lover-of-liberty to be outraged!

 

That good men are compliant and unconcerned regarding G.W. Bush's propensity to

trample constitutional freedoms bespeaks a great ignorance or a great apathy, or

both!

 

February 1, 2005

 

© Chuck Baldwin

 

Chuck Baldwin Live commentaries may not be reprinted or republished without

permission. . Published on The Federal Observer with

permission of Chuck Baldwin.

 

About the Author

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola,

Florida. In 1985 the church was recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its

unusual growth and influence.

 

Dr. Baldwin is the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show,

Chuck Baldwin Live. This is a daily, one hour long call-in show in which Dr.

Baldwin addresses current event topics from a conservative Christian point of

view. Pastor Baldwin writes weekly articles on the internet and newspapers. We

invite you to visit his WEB SITE.

 

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