Tag: Barack Obama

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The Day Rand Fights Back

Senator Rand Paul
Photo: Gage Skidmore (Flickr: Rand Paul) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Yesterday, this website joined thousands of other websites in promoting The Day We Fight Back, a protest against massive illegal spying on US citizens by the NSA and other federal government agencies.

On one of our sister sites, I took the time to explore in greater detail why it’s time to pay attention to the NSA, which offers a bit of a primer in just how egregious this violation of our 4th Amendment rights really is.

The Day We Fight Back was more than just a protest, actually. With a banner displayed at the bottom of participating sites, visitors were given the opportunity to contact their legislative representatives via email and a phone call in order to express their views about the illegal activities and to request the support of two bills: the USA Freedom Act and the FISA Improvements Act.

More Legislation Is Not the Answer

I hope you took the time to contact your legislators and express your views about this issue. (If not, you may still do so—as of today, anyway—at the protest site linked above.) The sitting representatives need to hear from us about how we feel when our Constitutional rights are being violated.

…which brings me to why I believe more laws are not the answer.

The fact is that we already have a law, the supreme law of the land, which already guarantees our rights where this is concerned.

And that supreme law is being violated.

I appreciate the fact that members of Congress need to author bills because it’s part of the game they play. It ignites support from their constituents, and it’s great when you’re doing your fundraising (they’re always doing fundraising, aren’t they?).

But why should I, as a US Citizen, feel any better because a new law guaranteeing me freedom from oppressive government activities gets passed?

This is why I believe Senator Rand Paul has the right idea. In a press release issued yesterday, Senator Paul announced:

“I am filing a lawsuit against President Barack Obama because he has publicly refused to stop a clear and continuing violation of the 4th Amendment. The Bill of Rights protects all citizens from general warrants. I expect this case to go all the way to the Supreme Court and I predict the American people will win.”

The lawsuit will also name National Intelligence Director James Clapper, outgoing NSA Director Keith Alexander, and FBI Director James Comey. Joining Senator Paul in the class action is Matt Kibbe, President of FreedomWorks, and lead counsel Ken Cuccinelli.

While I’m sure this won’t hurt Senator Paul’s fundraising efforts either, this action is the right idea for our country. Congratulations to Senator Paul on using the checks and balances designed by the framers of our Constitution by going to the judicial branch of government to restrain the executive branch.

Now it’s our turn… it’s time for “we the people” to use our power as Citizens and vote based upon how well these politicians do or do not uphold the Constitution.

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It’s A New Day

Photo Credit: Jayme Leita - BigStockPhoto

Setting political viewpoints and economics aside, today I am rejoicing.

Why?

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve thought long and hard about the issues faced by African-Americans in our culture. As a Caucasian male, I won’t pretend to have any real comprehension of what this is truly like. I spent most of my early childhood years in a suburb of Houston where racism was completely unknown — at least to me.

However, I’ll never forget the year I spent in Montgomery, Alabama. Many of my friends were African-Americans, and while I was completely bewildered by the culture shock I experienced, I did my best to try to develop an understanding for why — even as recently as the 1980s — racial tensions were unbelievably high.

That year changed my perspective forever. The bigotry that existed left an indelible impression on me. And it seemed clear to me that a lot of healing needed to occur — for all races involved — in order for there to be real progress.

And that’s why, today, as I sit and watch the pre-inaugural proceedings, something in me wells up with joy. I feel it in the air… I am thrilled for what the election and now the inauguration of Barack Obama  means to my African-American brethren.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife mentioned how much she enjoyed the song “It’s a New Day” by will.i.am. You must admit — it’s got a great hook. I downloaded the song from iTunes and we’ve enjoyed it ever since. The song seems to capture the feeling of victory that we should feel in this nation as an African-American reaches the highest office in the land.

Writing a post like this one may stir up feelings that I don’t intend in any who read it. Perhaps, if you’re an African-American, all I’ve done is reveal my real ignorance. If you’re not, you may feel as though I’m making too much of this event.

I don’t think we can make too much of it, but I’m also not ignorant enough to believe that there isn’t more healing needed. But I’m hoping that this goes a long way.