| The Fourth Amendment The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. |
Maybe I’m PMSing, but I am so pissed at my government right now I can’t stand it.
The government is going to start spying on us – with apparently unlimited power. Fourth Amendment? What Fourth Amendment?
Well, hey, a secret court has ruled that it’s okay – conducting searches of homes and offices, reading private correspondence, etc etc etc is just peachy by them.
Say it with me now: ‘we don’t need not steenkin’ warrants!’ So much for not searching our effects and papers, eh?
Oh, and there’s a secret list of people who aren’t allowed to fly, now. What happened to ‘land of the free?’ Guess the star-spangled banner now waves o’er the land of the suspected, and the home of the spied-upon.
At least our Ambassador to the U.N. has a sense of humor. I mean, who could seriously quote the following bit of Jefferson’s writings when our beloved president just reinstated “One Nation Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and my tax money will be used to prosletyze in places like the post office?
“No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.” –Thomas Jefferson’s words, my italics.
Note that Jefferson doesn’t say we can worship as we please, he says we can have our own opinion and not have others forced on us – which means atheists, freethinkers, and the rest have the right not to have God thrown at them in a Federally-funded building. Sheesh.
Oh, wait, you mean our Ambassador was serious?
Crap.
Well, two things to cheer me up:
One: I can fax our pres and bitch about all this crap – which I did. It may be a sign of my naivete that I think it might make a tiny difference.
Two: Alabama’s Chief Judge got told to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse. Viva la first amendment!
