Americans No Longer Question Authority

[babylonsister]

Americans No Longer Question Authority
by Timothy Gatto | Oct 8 2007


Have we passed the point of no return in this country? Has the right engineered such a change in our laws that nothing can be done to bring the country back from an Orwellian State that exists to serve the oligarchy and has stripped the common man of his basic unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Has the Federal government become so powerful that it can imprison people for dissent? Can this government really designate anyone it wished a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer and prosecute him or her without the benefit of due process? Have we really come to this point?

Some believe we have. There are some that honestly believe that America has no safeguards for civil liberties. These people believe that the right of free speech and the rights guaranteed us under the Constitution have been replaced by new laws that abridge our expectations of privacy, our right to dissent, and our right to challenge our government in a court of law to be decided by a jury of our peers.

These concerns are everywhere. I see them in articles, in e-mails, in telephone conversations and in the media. If this has indeed taken place, how was it done? Has the global war on terrorism taken such a priority in this nation that it now infringes on our personal freedom? If this is the case, can we ever get back what we have lost?

I believe that these questions are important and that we should all be asking them. I also believe that we should all be asking the question that if this is the case, how we as a people can change the situation. We should all be engaged in taking a reality check.

We should be asking ourselves if this government really needs the power that we seem to have ceded to them. We should be asking if the government really needs the authority to monitor our phone conversations, our e-mails and our mail. We should also be concerned about the laws that have been passed that require every citizen to have a national ID card. We should be asking the question why would it be necessary for the Federal Government to have the power to search our homes without our knowledge or without us being there because they say that they have information that indicates that we “might” be terrorists or terrorist sympathizers without having to show evidence of that belief because they claim it is “sensitive” in nature and could jeopardize “national security”.

The point I am making here is that the government has indeed overstepped its authority. The people that worry about whether or not we have reached the point of no return are asking a reasonable question. Have we turned into a police state? You tell me. Many Americans claim that the question is not important because they have nothing to hide. From my perspective that comes from 57 years on this planet, we all have something to hide. There is no one that lives that doesn’t have secrets that they would rather not be exposed. There is not a person alive that has not broken some law at sometime in their lives. No human being on Earth is untouchable. This is not opinion, it is a fact.

more...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10343

[hobbit709]

1. Walter Slezak, the actor and fellow Austrian once wrote

"The hallmark of being an American is a refusal to follow orders." Most Americans today have gone from "You want me to do WHAT?" to meekly complying with the so-called authorities.

[soothsayer]

2. It's the flouride in the water (makes you passive) and also all the prozac

and other stuff---which is also in our water now, they tell us, supposedly because it comes out in the urine (or because they are deliberately adding it).

[hobbit709]

3. Well, I drink lots of water and it ain't working on me.

:rofl: Either that or if I'm like this after being sedated, what would I be like without it.

[rAVES]

14. You're not helping the anti flouride movement with that shite yanno.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. I disagree. More and more Americans are just plain tired of

govt. telling them what to do. The idea that a woman can die in an airport on her way to medical/mental care, the over-reaching by local police, the harassment we receive on every flight, domestic and foreign, - all of this is taking its toll, and people are getting tired of it. Think of this as the calm before the storm.

another couple of tazer deaths, or a video of TSA assholes beating up gramps, and watch out.

[tom_paine]

5. I have always said that we Imperial Subjects of Amerika are nothing like Americans

and are more like the Germans who vaulted Hitler into power than the people who helped defeat him.

Gatto and many others are catching onto this, lately.

I also think the "point of no return" was passed long ago, perhaps when the Dems refused to impeach reagan for what were truly high crimes and misdemeanors "because he was so popular", and Americans as well as the Democratic Leadership were so easily fooled into believeing that Ollie North had a 95% approval rating in 1987.

Now the Democratic Leaders are even too frightened to impeach a lawless tyrant with a 28% approval rating who's crime are A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE that of Iran-Contra and Iraqgate, or Watergate.

Yes, I think the "point of no return" actually happened in the late 80s or early 90s, and it only caught up to us on 12-12-2000, the day everything changed.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. I have a theory which former counterculture individuals from the Sixties

challenged Nixon and not *: Nixon was in their parents' generation and they were rebelling against anyone who reminded them of their parents telling them what to do. * is one of them generation and age wise. They're older, financially secure, and * is sort of the class president taking charge. And the former rebels are tired, tired of fighting, tired of the political system, tired of paying attention. They're worn out. So they've deferred to * only b/c he's in charge, not necessarily b/c they agree with him.

[Jade Fox]

9. Interesting.....

but what's easy to forget is that loads of young people did NOT challenge Nixon or much else back then. The media just preferred the rebels. Now the media ignores the rebels and prefers the conformists.

What strikes me about the people who make up the Neocons is that they are the conformers of the 60s. This current era is in some ways payback on their part. I see that clearly in certain people like Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove. They're still really pissed about the 60s and how they were made to feel like the uninteresting people of their generation while all those disgusting hippies got the attention. That is what I think.

[redqueen]

7. That's right. Dems in congress say "our hand are tied" "the poll numbers say..."

And we just bend over and get ready for more war/occupation.

*sigh*

[Wilber_Stool]

8. We have more of these

authoritarians on this board than you might ever believe. It was the basis of The Great Circuit City thread. Search it up and give it a read. It really helped me bulk up my ignore list.
For a great explanation, download this copy of The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer. It's a startling read.

[redqueen]

13. See that's weird... cause I see it as more applying to congress / police

than receipt checkers at department stores.

[lligrd]

10. Yep, You Know It Is Over When Even Some DUers

think it is okay to be asked to remover your bra to go through security.

[IndianaGreen]

11. Not even a President Hillary will reverse the Bush power grab and end the abuses of power

For that matter, I have heard few of the candidates running for President for either party, address themselves to restoring the Constitution and civil liberties.

[lligrd]

12. Yep, I Wonder How Many Freepers Will Still Support All Of

the Presidential authorities they granted Bush after Hillary takes office?

[whopis01]

15. I was going disagree, but after reading it on the Internet, I guess it must be true. n/t