Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues Constitutional Issues Big brother is watching

Miami-Dade police buy drones Coming to a community near you soon?

I wish I could say there is no cause for concern.

Currently, I imagine that these drones will be appropriately used. But in the long term, it seems inevitable that this technology will become pervasive. And being pervasively available, it will be abused.

But really, i see nothing to stop this slippery slope. Even now anyone (including government) is free for fly above us and look down. The only difference is that now technology has made this easy to do in an inexpensive and surreptitious manner.

I have just tried to read this thread. Half of it consists of empty replies. Strange.........

Two cents worth - Big Brother is:
Watching us (planes, cameras, et al)
Reading our Email (actually ALL internet communication)
Listening to our phone calls
Invading homes with no knock
Stealing assets on spec

Oh, and killing our children in wars that cannot be won (keeps the number unemployed down)

All of the above with the help of congress, and the blessings of the, obviously, no ax to grind supremes <G>

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Sounds very much like Southern California.

There's nothing sinister about the empty posts. Because of the duration of this topic and bandwidth,the moderators probably archived them. If you want an overview, please check out my Petition to Gov. Crist that I posted on my blog. It will give you some idea of what's going on. I began this thread not only to tell my story, but also to serve as an educational tool. Our government and legal system isn't quite as honorable as portrayed in the comic books and on TV or in the movies. The problem is that there are no checks and balances or accountability- at least as it pertains to us peasants. In effect, there is no Rule of Law. Our justice system means just that- JUST-US (and the average American isn't included). The House republicans reading the US Constitution into the record is just shtick. They're no more committed to it and its principles than the democrats. You really don't have to look any further than Wall Streets coup d'etat to see that there's no rule of law, checks and balances, or accountability. The bankers pulled off the biggest bank robbery in history and took over DC without firing a shot.

We've been a covert Police State for the past few decades. The Patriot Act(s)just "legalized" what the government had been doing for years.

You may find my [b]letter to FBI Director Mueller[/b] interesting. The FBI refused to acknowledge receipt of it, although official FBI personnel signed for it. Consequently, I filed a number of FOIA requests with both IG's at the DOJ and FBI as well as other departments within the respective agencies. They all denied having any record of my letter. So I called up the FBI and tracked it down to the mail room that confirmed receiving it. The FBI received it, but just chose to ignore it. Is that called "discretion" or is it cover-up? CONgress was even more disappointing, including the "CONservative", "Constitutional waiving," Tea Party supporting republicans.

My thought on how it has all happened has to do with our 'leaders' have been working, very hard, in conjunction with most corporately funded news outlets, to scare the living s*** out of us. Its worked REALLY well and it also obvious that most of us are willing to allow the state to do just about anything to 'keep us safe'. What tends to make me wonder is that if one takes a look at the stats on crime, terrorism, etc. that those figures are actually going down, especially crime, that that one has been going down for years. Our chances, for instance, of being involved in a terrorist attack are actually VERY unlikely - possible but not probable. So, many have made a life choice to be scared to death, in the face of the simple fact that we really not be.

So, gov, and the newsies, know exactly how to keep us all happy, scared, safe, and, pretty much under control. This is, incidentally, what nations tend to do. It needn't be this way, in a perfect world, we do NOT live in a perfect world (obviously). If anybody is confused about this then they simply need to wake up and smell the roses. This nation is a CAPITALIST nation. Most of us knows what a capitalist and it has little to do with taking care of everybody so much as gaining capital. Those with the most capital RULE! This is simply the way it is. My confusion is the number of people, without a lot of capital, who support them that do. One can only wonder?

I remember when we went to Washington DC a week after 9/11. My kids were upset with us and asked if we were crazy. I pointed out that the deed was done and it was unlikely to re-occur real soon. Didn't make any difference, family, friends, etc. all pleaded with us not to go. We went. We were not allowed in the white house or the congress of cowards. We were, however, allowed into the house of the supremes. We went to the zoo and the Smithsonion and were not bothered by crowds. Got a suite for the right price, etc. We made exactly the right choice. Oh - my wife loved it - EVERYTHING was on sale! (Oh, I also had a serious talk with my kids. One remains scared to deal (he lives on the Right), the others understood the other two seem to understand that being scared is no real way to live)

Fear and money are two good motivators used to control people by the government. The question is: who is or rather what is the government? In theory, in the USA it's the people. In reality, it's the corporations. The USA is rapidly becoming a fascist nation as the state and government merge. Whose interests are being protected and promoted? The government appears to serve the corporations rather than the people it purports to serve. The corporations that make those campaign contributions (bribes)to our politicians also own the media. The media is going to "report" what their bosses want them to report just as your congressman is going to pass legislation that his real bosses, the corporations and not the American people, want him to pass. Government has become an instrument of the corporations.

The purpose of this thread is to document the difficulties that the average American encounters when dealing with government abuse. I'm not dealing with any macro issues, but rather a very specific one: illegal surveillance. I'm also dealing with very specific individuals, who have abused the authority that government gives them. I don't hold the humanistic view of mankind that man is inherently good. I also don't believe that he's inherently evil. I believe that he (especially those in government)should be watched and held accountable. Unfortunately, checks and balances, accountability, and the rule of law no longer exists in our country. There's a lot of lip service, such as the House republicans reading the US Constitution into the record, but it's just lip service.