Chapter 1 - A Connection to Hope - Page 4

For many years, however, I had resigned myself to working at a polling place on election day and processing the decennial census. It was my way of contributing as a citizen with relative ease. But the ease is gone.

So, why was I singing America‘s songs with apparent sorrow in my heart? — The USA PATRIOT Act.

Our government passed a law in 2001 which allows it to legally spy on its citizens. Federal law enforcement agencies can enter your home or business without your permission or the permission of the judicial system., search and seize your personal or business property, and leave you wondering. They can confiscate your phone records from your carrier and your library records from the county without your permission or knowledge. An unscrupulous guy could send his official buddy after you or any member of Congress who doesn’t vote as expected, if he so chooses. It doesn’t matter that he’s no longer in an official capacity in government or that they are violating the Bill of Rights. It smacks of unrestrained power, doesn’t it?—a renegade on the loose.

Why would Congress pass such a bill? Were they so paralyzed with fear that they couldn’t think clearly? Nevertheless, those who voted for the bill and the subsequent reauthorization of it should give an account to the American people as to why they voted for a bill that is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America; the right to privacy. (See Chapter 5, "Our Companion in Democracy,” for more information on the USA PATRIOT Act). If our Congress makes laws that are contrary to the Constitution, and if our judicial and executive branches of governance trample the rule of law because they feel preeminent; it will set a precedence that will continue until it eventually runs into a wall of citizens’ resistance.

I had finally found the source of my anguish—a major constitutional breach in our country had gone unnoticed and unchallenged by most. How could such a major impact on our lives go unnoticed? This act defines the scope of our task of restoration into the next decade.