Tag Archives: Homeland Security

Is this the nation our forefathers envisioned?

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the ...

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On this day 236 years ago, the second continental congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence.  The 13 British-American colonies had in essence put their proverbial middle fingers up in the air, and wagged them at that island across the pond.

Our founding fathers then created the United States of America, a nation founded upon the ideals of religious freedom, freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, limited governmental power, armed citizens, unreasonable search and seizure, and states’ rights.

As great as this nation is, it seems to me our founding fathers are probably rolling over in their graves after seeing what they fought for has become.

Our founding fathers decreed that American citizens would be free to practice their own religions, and also to have its government separated from religion.  However, our national motto is, “In God we Trust.”  It appears on our currency and has done so since 1957.  For the longest time prayer was allowed in our public schools.  In 1954 the phrase “one nation under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.

In today’s society we have right-wing Republicans proposing laws that would affect all citizens which have a background in their religious beliefs.  Anti-abortion laws, birth control laws, and the ban on gay marriage all come to mind.

The right to peaceably assemble was infringed upon last year in multiple cities as police forces nation-wide descended on  Occupy Wall Street protests and often times forcibly removed the protesters with excessive force.

Our founding fathers vision of a federal government with limited power is succumbing to a government that is large, unwieldy, and out of control.  The latest such example is Obamacare, which mandates that all citizens must purchase private health insurance.  Other recent examples are corporate bail-outs of banks and car companies, cash-for-clunkers, ludicrous taxes on junk food, and forcing a school child to buy a school lunch when the lunch the child brought from home was deemed unhealthy by the school.

The government is meant to serve the people, not tell them how to live their lives.  If a strict diet of Twinkies makes me happy, I shouldn’t be unreasonably taxed in my pursuit of happiness.  The same goes for smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol.

Our founding fathers also believed in armed citizens to not only protect themselves from threats from outside of the country but also within.  Their belief was that citizens could use firearms to defend themselves against a government that had become too tyrannical, which our government is in danger of becoming.  Instead, gun laws become stricter and more cumbersome by the day.  Many believe Obama, if re-elected, will move to erase the 2nd amendment and thus make owning a firearm illegal.  What’s the saying?  If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns?  I know that would make me sleep much better at night.

Illegal search and seizure was also a concern of our founding fathers and they made sure that our constitution addressed that and made it illegal.  However, ever since the creation of Homeland Security that amendment has been tossed out the window.  All Homeland Security has to do is declare you’re a suspected terrorist and they can do whatever they want to you.  They can search your house, steal confiscate your belongings, or detain you indefinitely and there’s nothing you can do about it.  You have no legal recourse, either.

I’ve gone off on a tangent on a day that we should be celebrating this great nation, but at present I fear the direction this country is going.  I truly love this country and what it’s supposed to stand for, but the ideals this country was founded on are being threatened by extremists from the left and right.

My illogical rant is over now.  Happy Independence Day, folks.  I hope you had a good one.

Related articles

Prioritizing Deportations?

Homeland Security has apparently usurped control of the Federal government’s jurisdiction on illegal immigrants.  They have apparently just changed the rules without any input from Washington, and created a priority system in which illegal immigrants who are criminals will get deported first.  The illegal immigrants who aren’t criminals will get a chance to apply for a work permit, per the above linked Yahoo! article:

Many illegal immigrants who were facing deportation despite having no criminal record will be allowed to stay in the country and apply for a work permit under new rules from the Homeland Security Department.

Hello?  Every fucking illegal immigrant is a criminal.  They are in this country illegally.  And that makes them criminals whether they have a criminal record or not.  They should all be deported the minute they are apprehended.

Additional stupidity is found in this article:

The decision comes amid continued protests from immigrant communities and others that the administration has been too focused on deporting people whose only offense is being in the country without the proper documents or who have been arrested for traffic violations or other misdemeanors.

Whose only offense is being in the country without proper documents?  People are really pissed about this?  It’s the fucking law!  If you come into this country illegally, you get deported.  The law doesn’t say that you can come here illegally as long as you don’t break any other laws.  Get a clue, fuckers.

This article also mentions the DREAM Act, a bill that was introduced to the senate on May 11th of this year.  I’ve yet to comment on this, so here goes.  Per the Yahoo! article:

That guidance covered those potentially subject to a legislative proposal, known as the DREAM Act, intended to give young illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military a chance at legal status.

Um…how are illegal immigrants getting into college or the military?  You have to be legal, or have papers, to do both.  Some Mexican (or Canadian, doesn’t really matter) can’t just call up a US Army recruiter and say he wants to join.  Documentation is required because being in the Army works like a real job.  You get paid, and therefore must have proof that you’re legal to work in this country.  So either this Yahoo! article doesn’t understand what the DREAM Act is, or our universities and military are just letting anybody in.

Well, it seems, to my dismay, that the Yahoo! article is correct.  Per Wikipedia:

This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal alien-students of good moral character who graduate from US high schools, arrived in the US illegally as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill’s enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four year institution of higher learning, the students would obtain temporary residency for a six year period.

Again I ask:  How are illegal immigrants getting into high schools, colleges, and military branches without proper documentation?  I have two kids in middle school and it is unreal how much documentation I have to provide that fucking place.

Anyhow, back to the Homeland Security debacle, the Yahoo! article also states that “agents consider how long someone has been in the United States, whether immediate family members are U.S. citizens and whether that person has a criminal record” when determining whether to deport someone.  That is completely over-complicating the issue.  This is actually a pretty easy process.  If the person is here illegally, then that person gets deported.  If a person is here legally, they don’t get deported.  A rare black-or-white scenario.

As expected, Democrats lauded the move and Republicans condemned it. I obviously agree with the Republicans on this one.  As one of them pointed out in the article, how wise is it to give illegal immigrants a work permit when unemployment in this country is already high?  Why would you do that to your own citizens?  People are having a hard enough time finding work and here comes Homeland Security further complicating the process.  This country is really starting to piss me off.

While the two political parties battle over their extremist ideologies, the majority of Americans, who lean neither left nor right, are being forgotten by the very people who are supposed to be looking out for them.  The lack of immigration enforcement or reform is just another example of that.  Fuck congress.  Fuck the senate.  Fuck the Democrats, Republicans, and the Tea Party.  Fuck Biden.  Fuck Obama.  And fuck illegal immigrants.  Go fuck up your own countries.