Trust

Isn’t it wonderful how the United States government trusts the American people who are, quite literally and according to our Constitution, the government? (“Of the People, By the People, and For the People”.) As I understand things, our government is made up of folks whom we elect to represent us in Congress to enact the occasional law or two, decide where and how our tax monies are to be spent, and to determine if we really want to go to war with this or that country. Congressmen are supposed to be aided by a few “hired hands”, who are specialists in whatever subject seems interesting at the moment. Overseeing the day to day operations is the President, who we hope is a good office manager with the wisdom of Solomon, the courage of Audie Murphy, and the common sense of Abe Lincoln. The President is supposed to be assisted by a few advisors who are experts in their respective fields, and who really should have a bit more than a little common sense of their own. Overseeing the entire government is a very special group of individuals that we call the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of highly qualified legal specialists whose sole job is to determine whether or not the activities of both Congress and the President are in accordance with our Constitution, which is of course the supreme law of the land. The Supreme Court is also aided by a few people, who are supposed to be nothing more than the office staff and a handful of legal researchers.

As I learned American history in grade school and high school, each branch of our government (legislative, executive, and judicial) will, in theory, jealously guard the prerogatives of their particular office from intrusion by another branch. Thanks to the wording of our constitution, the individual states got into the action as well. While the states don’t have the authority to derail the federal government, they certainly do have the authority to apply the brakes! As things were set up, John Q. Citizen paid his taxes to the state in which he resided, and the state handed a portion of those tax dollars to the federal government as needed. With this system the federal government was never in a position to make severe monetary demands on either the state or the citizen, but was forced to live within its budget each year. If extra funds were needed, the feds had to go to the states, hat in hand, and hope the state was in a good mood. Thus there wasn’t a whole lot of federal wastage going on.

Congress also operated a bit differently. The members of the House of Representatives, then as now, were elected by the citizens of each state (by popular vote), specifically to represent the people, and were answerable only to the voters. Representatives are responsible for how much money the government spends each year, and if they handed out to many blank checks, would (theoretically) find themselves out of a job next year. Senators on the other hand were selected by their individual statehouse, and were sent to Washington to only to represent the specific interests of their particular state, not the individual voters therein. In 1913, we passed the seventeenth amendment to the constitution and made mandatory the direct (popular vote) election of US Senators. With that popular vote, all our congressmen found themselves handing out favors to the electors, usually in the form of various entitlements and pork barrel projects, to keep the voters happy and hold on to their political office. (1913 was a bad year for America, as it also saw the sixteenth amendment passed, which brought about our income tax program.) The early years of the twentieth century saw the beginning of the American police state, as the FBI, BATF, the beginnings of the DEA came into being, along with a number of smaller and quite specialized law enforcement agencies whose sole purpose to exist is to protect the US government… from the American people. With 9-11 we got Homeland Security, authorized by congress in a panicky effort to be seen as doing something to combat terrorism and protect the American people. Unfortunately, and as usual, Congress wasn’t thinking very well that day. With Homeland Security and the equally odious Patriot Act the federal government gained dictatorial powers over American citizens, which includes a congressional OK to ignore our constitution and bill of rights, wherein they can spy on us, seize our property, arrest and hold us on the flimsiest excuse, and seemingly do just about anything else they might want. Originally the idea was to catch terrorists. Shortly thereafter organized crime and drug cartels were added to the hit list. Now it includes any real or suspected criminal activity, along with, apparently, arcane religious beliefs. What’s next? Even more spying on us of course, to make sure we’re not planning to overthrow the government I guess.

We’ve had the “Real ID” program crammed down out throats, which is little more than a government issued (and government revocable) permit to live in the United States. With RFID, that ID card can be used to track your every movement, in real time. Camera systems are being installed on the streets of our cities to keep track of the goings on. When hooked to a computer system they will also identify any individual within the field of view. Biometrics can be used to identify you whenever you go through a door, or even walk past a lamp post! GPS systems installed in automobiles track their every movement, (only to monitor whatever improper activity your teenagers are up to of course), and to help with the recovery of stolen vehicles. Your new remote reading electric meter could be used, once your average power use is calculated, to make sure you’re not wasting energy by keeping the house overly warm, or to monitor the use of gro-lights in your basement “farm”. Homeland security is already using military spy satellites, and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft to watch everything that happens in the US… Ahh… pardon me, only to catch drug smugglers and illegal aliens…

Now there’s even more government surveillance coming down the pike.

What's got a 500-foot wing, flies at 90,000 feet and can stay in the air for nearly five years at a time? It'll be the “Vulture”, a long-range, solar powered, unmanned surveillance aircraft sponsored by the pentagon and being closely followed by homeland security. Essentially it’s a highly maneuverable satellite replacement, a fixed-wing aircraft flying high enough to "see" large parts of the Earth, but one that can circle and focus on areas of particular interest for a long time, something a satellite can't do. Modern sensor arrays can see underground and underwater as well as on the surface of the earth, during the day, or at night. Cameras can read a newspaper headline from a hundred miles away, while radar can literally count the fillings in your teeth if anyone wants to take the time to look! Some thermal imaging systems could be used to count the mice in the backyard, or determine what room of the house you’re presently in (along with getting a pretty good idea of what you’re doing in there).

I don’t mind the cops, federal, state, county, or city, catching the “bad guys”, in fact I’ll applaud their efforts. But I do object, strenuously so, to the government spending my tax money to watch my every movement! As an American citizen, where I go, or what I do and think, is none of their damm business until after I break some law or other!