Core and Central: The Surveillance State, FISA and the Value of Liberty

The Conservative Tree House ^ | 11 Jan, 2025 | Sundance

[MtnClimber]

There is nothing reconcilable about American Liberty when contrast with a looming surveillance state. There is no facet of American values, the essential core of what we define as Americanism, that can exist without true liberty. While the Declaration of Independence is long regarded as the greatest written declaration of purpose, the latter created Bill of Rights, the first Ten original amendments to the U.S. Constitution, is just as important. The first declared our intent; the second defined how our founders intended to retain the intent during our collective assembly. Together they outline what set the course to make America great.

We have allowed the foundational intent of both sets of documents to be compromised, because, well, simply we were lazy and complacent. Now we are engaged in a time of great consequence that will determine whether or not the purpose of our assembly can continue.

We are, in factual reality, now deep inside a debate carried out in the world of politics. The stakes have never been higher.

In nine days, President Donald J Trump is scheduled to be sworn in as President of the United States. In my non-pretending world, this is likely to be the last time in our lifetime to drag the conversation of how we define liberty into the American psyche. All of my research in the past two decades indicates this likelihood is not hyperbole. We have one shot at this, and our time is now.

Liberty, the fundamental decision to retain it or lose it, is the context for all other contexts that have preceded it. The principles of liberty that we have defined for generations cannot exist in an American surveillance state. Thus, the secretive courts, the unlawful usurpation of the 4th Amendment, the short-sighted ramifications of the Patriot Act, the weaponization of our federal law enforcement and police agencies, all of it, must be reviewed through this fundamental core issue, Liberty.

I have traveled throughout the East and West to gain perspective on what makes us different, and what I can assert with clarity is that if we lose the Liberty argument, then the ideological representatives behind Barack Obama will have succeeded, the fundamental transformation will be irreversible.

This frames the cornerstone of my viewpoints on all of the characters in politics. It is not a matter of debate that on these core issues of Liberty and the stopping of the Surveillance State, everything else is a downstream consequence. The tiered system of constitutional protections for particular categories of personage must be rebuked. On this matter there cannot be compromise, because every outcome that impedes our way of life is a derivative of this value.

I will oppose all interests who refuse to confront the Surveillance State. I will draw bold attention to those who are willingly creating it, and I promise you I will call out every operational interest that is willfully blind to its creation.

This is my hill.

Love to all,

Sundance

[unlearner]

“How does being watched rob a person of their liberty?”

Others have answered as to “privacy”. The rights against unreasonable searches and presumption of innocence preclude “being watched” when we intend to be private and take reasonable efforts to do so.

However, there is also a public issue with “being watched”. We have the rights of freedom of speech, press, association, assembly, and religion which are protected from punishment even when exercised publicly. We may encounter unwanted targeting by others for exercising our public rights. This might include de-banking, de-platforming, demonetization, or even boycotting (of our businesses, for example). So, an implied right to not be surveilled without consent should exist implicitly to allow us some level of control in exercising our public rights while limiting our exposure and interaction with the public.

For example, I might want to express my conservative opinions on Free Republic without providing the public with personally identifiable information. I may want to post on X without being doxed.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Well said.

I am assuming the “surveillance state” referred by the author is an entity that would take unwarranted, unconstitutional action on the basis of the free exercises wherewith we are endowed by the Creator.