Our founding fathers, forming our nation's government, had visions of grandeur. A nation of free people who could worship as they pleased, could become whatever they pleased within their inherent abilities. A nation of the people, for the people and by the people. Sounds great. And it is great. They started a government in a virtual wilderness, many with somewhat limited educations which, by their efforts, grew into this greatest of all the world's nations.
It is, however, pure fantasy to even consider a people with total freedom. To be completely free, we would be unable to have laws by which to govern and of course, anarchy would be the result. Only the strongest and most ruthless would survive. Freedom could not be called freedom in those circumstances.
Therefore it was, and is, recognized that there are certain restrictions which are essential for our freedoms to be fair and to long continue. The old saying that a man is free to swing his fist until it reaches my nose, gives a slight idea of what restrictions must be. There has been much abuse of our freedoms over the years and it appears that the more aggressive of the attorneys and/or judges are the ones who determine what freedoms will be allowed and what will be limited or abolished. Many times, I have been amazed at the lengths some will go in claiming their rights. We have laws, and often we have people who claim the right to break those laws unless they are caught doing so. Very few states that I know of, will allow their highway patrolmen to "hide in ambush" to catch speeders. In other words, you may break the speed limit at your pleasure, just keep your eye out for the police who must be out where you can see them. That is a freedom which has probably killed a number of innocent people.
We have an almost continual uproar concerning our rights to privacy. We deny our government free course to tap telephones of suspected terrorists. Why? If they accidentally tap my phone, so be it. I have nothing to hide. If one has something to hide, why does he? If he has broken laws and is caught, he deserves it. No one should be granted freedom to be a lawbreaker. If we expect to keep any freedoms at all, we have to keep abreast of those who would do us harm, be it terrorists or any other subversive types of organizations.
During World War 2, and the Korean War, there were subversive groups in this country which were closely monitored by the FBI and when necessary, taken into custody. We have those such groups working here in the U.S. at present but with the help of the ACLU and others, we are not able to monitor their activities as should be done. The ACLU itself should be listed as subversive. They are one of the biggest threats to our freedom of religion, freedom of press and freedom of speech that now exists.
We now have a number of activist judges in our judicial system who ignore the constitution and federal laws, replacing them with decisions by their own liberal philosophies. This throws many of the constitution's intended freedoms, out of the window. These judges should be removed from the bench and disbarred.
Although I have forgotten who made the statement and cannot quote it verbatim, I once read a quote that I believe to be true. It basically stated that a free republic governed by the people could not long survive. That, as they grew strong and affluent, they learn that they can vote themselves much governmental benefits and will thereby self destruct. We are now at that point. We will vote for the one who promises us more than all the others. We are now at a point where every citizen should observe what former president, John F. Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather, what you can do for your country." But he was too late. We had long passed that stage by some 30-40 years.
It is my belief that this nation will no longer be a free republic within another 5 to 8 presidential terms. The voting this presidential election year has shown where we now stand. Pessimism? Yes.
