Uncle Sam has lost the moral high ground!!

Two amendments recently failed in Congress, one that would have curtailed the massive collection of telephonic and digital communications of American citizens by NSA and the other, that would have curtailed the authorization of endless wars and unseemly covert military actions around the world in the name of fighting terrorism.

It seems to me that I have lost the country I have known, of Constitutional Law, that respects my privacy and freedom as a citizen and one that shows respect for International law, where the killings of innocent children are not dismissed and rationalized as "necessary" for self defense. 

Deeply disappointed, bereft and aggrieved at the loss of a country that purported to live by the highest standards of ethics and moral integrity!  Uncle Sam, you have given up the high ground on which we were founded.  I want my country back!

Ralph Nader is right; Only Congress has the legitimate power to declare war

President Obama,  with the power vested in us, through our Congressional representatives, we implore you to follow Ralph Nader's thoughtful admonition to you against any attempt on your part to exercise unconstitutional war powers in your apparent rush to war against Syria!!  http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/31  We implore you to defer to Congress in questions of declaring war!  Your most solemn oath is to uphold our Constitution, and as Nader so directly points out, the power to declare War resides with Congress.

Clause 11. To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

When there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it was of the utmost folly for Bush and Cheney, (your recent immunity afforded them, notwithstanding) to so blithely ignore the work of UN Inspectors there and rush instead to war.  They acted with impunity, and now it appears that you want to act in just such an imperial manner as well. Step back a minute and consider your obligations under the Constitution and, indeed, under International Law, as well. Unmanned war weapons may be part of the problem, here; their use may seem too easy. Try waging peace, instead of war!!   It is the better moral option, and a better legal one at that!! Impunity is unbecoming in any branch of government!!    http://thepeoplesguidetotheusconstitution.com/blog/articles/congressional-power-to-declare-war/

As Early as 1778, the Continental Congress enacted protections for whistleblowers!

Edward Snowden deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, because "the truth will set us free"  

Did you know that the Continental Congress created the first Whistleblower Protection Law in 1778. Amazing! and it is all the more hurtful to realize this.   Benjamin Franklin warned us ages ago that if we give up freedom for security, we end up with neither.  Sure does seem like Al Quaida destroyed our nation, as we knew it and had it!! But we didn't have to let it happen!

See http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/05-3

Are we in a Police State yet?

A "Police State" during my youth was the worst place in the world one could live in!  But,WE were free, and we relished it!!!!!  So long ago, it seems.

but wait!  What news from Reuters do we have this morning?

"(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.

Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges."

 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805

 THIS is audacious, Uncle Sam, but not "hopeful", and decidely "Un-American".  I want my country back!!!