When do 'we the people' get the power back?
It occurred to me today, as I was listening and reading and watching all about the wiretap non-scandal and the post-9/11 assumption of powers, all in the name of the War on Terror...
When do "We the People" get these civil liberties back?
When can we fly without strip searches and shoe removal?
When can we pick up the phone without wondering if anyone's listening? (No one is, I promise, unless you're already a terrorist.)
(I could also go into "When can I stop worrying about the Muslim guy sitting next to me on the subway?" but that is another topic for another day.)
This reminds me of a municipal tax passed for a new stadium or roads. It's sold to the constituency by saying that that 1/2 cent sales tax will be repealed as soon as the project is paid for. How often does that tax actually get repealed? When have you seen the sales tax rate on your shopping receipt go down instead of up?
I'm saying that once politicians get something, especially money or power, it is NEVER GIVEN BACK.
Just like that 1/2 cent sales tax will continue into perpetuity, the powers that have been assumed since 9/11 may never be given back to the people. The excuse will be that every pet project will be listed under the "War on Terror" banner... and as long as that War continues, you get my point. Unfortunately for some, and fortunately for others, that's a really open-ended goal. It may never be truly met.
Therefore, it's imperative that the checks and balances built into our society be in play. However frustrating the opposition to prosecuting the war may be, its existence is vital. It's to keep the current administration in check. (Whoever the President may be - this'll be going on long after 2009 - see above...)
Had Abraham Lincoln lived past the Civil War, he probably would have been impeached for his assumption of wartime powers. By declaring martial law and preventing their freedom to asssemble and form a Confederate sympathy among the people, Lincoln strongarmed Maryland into staying in the Union, thus preventing Washington from being surrounded by Confederate territory.
I am not saying that we need to rein in our prosecution of the War on Terror. Nor am I saying that the Bushies and neocons are going crazy in justifying their need for wartime powers. I actually think that everything we're doing as a nation is helping to prevent another 9/11. But politicians being who they are, they will never willingly give this power back.