Civil Liberties

“The defense of the country requires that we have adequate intelligence to detect and to counter threats to domestic security. This requirement must not take priority over maintaining the civil liberties of our citizens.  The Bill of Rights provides no exceptions for a time of war. Intelligence agencies that legitimately seek to preserve the security of the nation must be subject to oversight and transparency.” – Libertarian Party Platform, Section 3.1  (adopted: May 2008)

Your Rights Are At Risk Under Obama

The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, significantly limit the power of the federal government to usurp the rights of private citizens. The Bill of Rights provides the well-known freedoms of speech, of the press, assembly and religious worship. It also provides protections against unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment, compelled self-incrimination and double jeopardy. It guarantees the right to an impartial jury and denies the government the ability to compel self-incrimination.

Over the past few years, we have seen repeated government attempts to circumvent or even blatantly disregard the most basic of our guaranteed personal liberties. Rarely a day passes where there isn’t some major media mention of Guantanamo Bay, the Patriot Act, the Real ID Act, secret prisons, the use of torture or domestic spying.

Under Obama, just as under President Bush the government may still snoop into the most personal of your mail or your e-mail and you won’t even know they were there. People are arrested and held without trial or legal representation. Sometimes they are even tortured. They can now use your cellular phone as a bugging device, even if you aren’t currently talking on it at the time.

It is essential that we repeal the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and that we restrain the Executive Branch to the limitations set forth in our Constitution.

Your friend in Liberty,

Marc Delphine

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2 Responses to “Civil Liberties”

  1. President Obama has apparently endorsed many of the Bush/Cheney policies that expand Executive privilege, but narrow personal freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. He has betrayed many of his campaign promises that insured us that his governance would provide more transparency and would reverse many of the outrageous attacks on civil liberty, health, the environment and a reasonable foreign policy not dominated by war.

    If this President will not lead us away from the Bush/Cheney trend toward oligarchy, then we need vocal senators and representatives who push back against this erosion of the Constitution. Bush and Cheney flagrantly abused their power. Obama has become their doppelganger.

  2. Patrick Blake says:

    Good luck. I hope you win!

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