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Editor's Letterby James Israel
Well, it's official. Say bye-bye to the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution - you know, that quaint little paragraph safeguarding that crazy notion of privacy. The Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." Hey, this is the 21st century! Don't you know, there's no such thing as privacy any more? So why even try to enforce it? I guess that's what those Crusaders of Freedom, the Democrats who took over Congress last election on a promise of a "new direction" thought. Why else would they hand George W. Bush, their sworn political enemy, a get-out-of-jail free card, along with the telecoms that helped him break the law? Complete immunity from being held accountable for any of the (up to then) illegal spying they did on millions of American's phone calls. C'mon, admit it, you were talking to Al Queda, weren't you? Planning the next big attack? Uh-huh, sure, you're an "innocent citizen" - well then, you have nothing to hide, do you? Never mind that historically, spying on people's communications leads to political dirty tricks. Now that the government can listen in on any conversation, do you think they're always going to be hands-off when the people talking are say, planning a demonstration? When the listeners know, absolutely, that even though they're breaking the spirit of the law, they will not get prosecuted, or even have their dirty little hands slapped, if they listen in? You can rest assured it's Cointelpro all over again, only this time with a vengeance. Organizations working for peace or the environment will most surely be closely watched, if they happen to ruffle any feathers of government officials. "Peace" and "environment"? Yeah, right! Those could easily just be code words used by terrorist sympathizers! That's "probable cause" in today's political climate! The Fourth Amendment the rest of the Constitution were created precisely because people in power can never be fully trusted not to abuse that power. The government must be accountable to the people. That's what this country was founded on. "But no, we've got to give up our liberties to beat the terrorists!" say some, if not in so many words. But think about it - if that's winning, what would losing be? Congressional Democrats: You shamed yourself on July 10th. (So did Republicans - but at least they can say they were backing their leader.) Less than a week after we celebrated our freedoms, you took a giant step toward squashing one of the main tenets of that freedom. Remind me, why was it we swept you into office? And why shouldn't we sweep you right back out?
– James Israel P.S. Please remember to give generously to those in need… of a laugh! Subscriptions make wonderful gifts that are very appreciated. And now's the time, because for one more month, we're offering a Two for Two special - give two or more subscriptions and get $2.00 off on all of them! Just enter "TwoForTwo" (without the quotes) in the Discount Code box! P.P.S. The Humor Times has launched a free weekly email newsletter! We hope to add some cheer to your week with a Cartoon of the Week, a column by the great topical comedian, Argus Hamilton, some titillating "fake news" from the Giant Napkin, a Joke of the Week and an invitation to enter the monthly Cartoon Caption Contest, as well as other features. Sign up right here. It's easy to unsubscribe if you want, and we promise not to share your email info with anyone! (You can see what it looks like in your browser, here!)
Humor Times publisher James Israel now has a Blog! A once-a-month Editor's Letter just wasn't enough for this opinionated guy. Check out his more frequent ruminations at his blog, and subscribe to it!
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