When educating people about the dangers of broad and unchecked government surveillance, sadly, it is all too often that “educated” people will say that they are not concerned because “they have nothing to hide” or that “they aren’t saying or doing anything wrong.” To say these people are missing the point is a dangerous understatement. Naiveté aside, these people are parroting media programmed responses without applying the least bit of intellectual rigor to their statement. Not only is history full of very good reasons to fear overly intrusive police states spying into your private life, but current events also provide more than enough justification to worry. The truth is that the United States Government has been and will continue to egregiously violate law-abiding citizens’ rights and terrorize political opponents until it is checked on all fronts by a united population that demands accountability and punishment for the criminal abuses of power.
Literally tens of millions of people have been put to death in China, the Soviet Union, and Germany for doing, saying, or believing things that are perfectly legal, lawful, and peaceful. Under Stalin, being educated was enough to have you shipped off to the gulags. In China, the mere appearance of not adhering to the government’s political agenda earned you a bullet to the head. In East Germany something as simple as a neighbor reacting improperly to a political speech or a child’s comment about his parents’ dinner time conversation to a teacher could earn the unsuspecting offender a night time visit from the Stasi. Many would quickly say this is not a comparable case since the U.S. is far different than these governments. However, more and more frequently, it appears that the U.S. Government is indeed singling out peaceful, law-abiding citizens for nothing more than their personal beliefs, religious convictions, or political ideology. The targeted citizens are many and includes veterans, gun owners, Christians, those that do not believe in condoning abortion or homosexual activity, whistleblowers, conservatives, farmers, hunters, fisherman, coal miners, war re-enactors, small businesses, and parents that believe in home schooling. The price these law-abiding citizens, businesses, and organizations are paying for their beliefs are becoming steeper and steeper as the government incrementally consolidates powers and eliminates any opposition.
The pattern of U.S. Government sponsored terrorizing of citizens to force political agendas is disturbing and is becoming more and more common. Most recently, it was exposed that the Obama Administration has known since 2011 that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been systematically targeting conservative political groups and Jewish organizations for additional tax scrutiny.[i] These people were targeted for government harassment not because of illegal activity, but because of their constitutionally protected beliefs that were contrary to those held by the ruling elite. Instead of demanding resignations and criminal trials for the blatantly illegal actions by members of the IRS and Obama Administration, the White House has instead chose to label the actions as “inappropriate.” “Inappropriate” is by default the White House condoning the terrorizing of citizens that hold different political or religious beliefs. Remember, Jewish groups were also targeted by the government. One need only remember what happened in Germany to see where this kind of unchecked activity leads. Even businesses as innocent and innocuous as Chick-fil-A have been recently targeted for holding firm to their legal and constitutionally protected religious beliefs. Chick-fil-A’s refusal to cave to government harassment and terrorizing threatened to put a widely loved American restaurant chain out of business for nothing more than opposing the cult of Obama’s political correctness.
If the Obama Administration is allowed to get away with these repeated criminal abuses of power, there will no longer be any legal obstacles to the ruling elite using whatever government force it wants to “force” compliance with its agenda and ideology. No matter what political party one may currently affiliate with, you have a responsibility to hold your party to account and should demand they take action. Failing now means that when another party comes to power, as it inevitably does, you will be the one whose political or religious beliefs are targeted. If you fail to act now, then you can guarantee your cries for help will go unheard and you will have no one to blame, but yourself. Those that think that “doing nothing wrong” means they will be safe are not only ignorant, but also will be some of the first victims when government oppression progresses from harassment to total control and terrorism. Please act daily to inform your circle of friends and urge action. Contact your elected representatives and demand they take legal action immediately. If the politicians fail to listen and act, make sure that they know this will be the end of their political careers and make doubly sure they are not re-elected. In fact, if the party as a whole refuses to act, make sure to vote for none of the above and find a qualified independent candidate that is willing to break the death grip the parties have on our country.
By Guiles Hendrik
[i] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/10/mcconnell-answers-irs-targets-conservative-groups/?cache; Last accessed May 12, 2013