Dear Readers, Many of you may have read or listened to the speech today by Barack Obama. Were you impressed? I wasn't. Here's my take.
-------------------------------------------- Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of the rights of its citizens, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it. And make no mistake, our governments -- federal, state, and local -- have all become injurious to the rights of citizens. Barack Obama today delivered a speech (see http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/01/17/remarks-president-review-signals-intelligence ) that promised undeliverables. He promised that "greater safeguards for civil liberties" will be enacted, and that steps will be taken to rein in the worst of the NSA surveillance abuses. But government cannot be reined in. Once it has power, it seeks more. Once it has information, it keeps it -- and often tells us that it didn't keep it (such as the records of gun purchases run through the NICS system) even though it really did -- and then it wants more. It is the nature of the beast; everything it thinks it can use, it stuffs into its gaping, insatiable maw. There is already a list of "safeguards", and they are mentioned specifically in the Constitution. If the supreme law of the land is "just a piece of paper", what other "safeguards" will keep millions of bureaucrats from breaking the law further? The only way to limit government intrusion into our lives is to eliminate the functions that have little to do with defending individual rights within our borders. If government were restricted to only acting on its one legitimate function -- protecting individual rights -- ninety-five percent of government operations would cease to exist. And Edward Snowden would have had little incentive to break the news on the government's rampant criminality. Edward Snowden should be granted a full pardon and complete immunity from prosecution. The government's ire should instead be turned toward prosecuting the millions of bureaucrats who have violated both their oaths of office, statute law, and even the Constitution itself. A non-interventionist nation at peace with the world doesn't need a worldwide security apparatus. A nation that doesn't meddle in conflicts around the world doesn't need a two-ocean Navy, or thousands of nuclear weapons, or gargantuan stockpiles of chemical and biological agents. A nation that stays out of foreign conflicts is less likely to be a target of terrorists. And a nation like that doesn't need to spy constantly on its own citizens. -------------------------------------------- VOTE LIBERTARIAN! <http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.LP.org%2F&h=AAQEGJBQzAQGtxasFpZUv4E9vtSt8KvJw3SpcxfTZK8aMLg&s=1>http://www.LP.org/ or 800-ELECT-US ---------------------- NOTE: This article is also posted to the LPVA Facebook page -- discuss it in the comments: https://www.facebook.com/LPVirginia/posts/10151819866821717 ---------------------- -- Marc Montoni, Secretary Libertarian Party of Virginia P.S. Do you know of other Virginia Libertarians with recently-published material? Send us the link to each article, and pen a few words to introduce it to your fellow Libertarians! P.P.S. Disagree with the author? Have a different perspective? Think there is a better Libertarian answer? Are you a Virginia resident? Then publish your op-ed in response on a blog or your website and let us know the URL, and we will notify our members of it just like we did here. ============================================ RUN FOR OFFICE! The Libertarian Party of Virginia is currently seeking candidates to run for public office for the 2014 season. Let us know: http://Campaign.LPVA.com ============================================ -- end -- ############################################################# Have an announcement you'd like to post? SCC members & many committee heads are all authorized to post; or you may send your announcements to the List Master: <[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=Announcement>. ############################################################# Unsubscribe: Send an email to [email protected] with no subject and "Unsubscribe Announce" as the text. ############################################################# Libertarian Party of Virginia http://www.LPVA.com Phone: 703-715-6230 ############################################################# Want to see past messages? Check the Archive: http://www.Mail-Archive.com/[email protected]/ #############################################################
