Be afraid.
Be very afraid. Not of terrorists; no, the threat they pose is insignificant compared to the one posed by the totalitarian crazies who want to turn America into a police state where citizens can be held indefinitely without charge and without recourse. And by the way, to those out there who think it's just peachy that the UK "doesn't have a Bill of Rights" and wish we could emulate them, I have this suggestion: MOVE TO ENGLAND! This is America, asshole--love it or leave it! (Note to you on the Right with no sense of irony--and that's most of you--I'm being sarcastic.) Sarcasm aside, the UK does, in fact, have a Bill of Rights, formally known as An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown, enacted in 1689. Among the rights it guarantees:
- freedom from royal interference with the law (the Sovereign was
forbidden to establish his own courts or to act as a judge himself) - freedom from taxation by royal prerogative, without agreement by Parliament
- freedom to petition the King
- freedom from a peace-time standing army, without agreement by Parliament
- freedom to have arms for defence, as allowed by law
- freedom to elect members of Parliament without interference from the Sovereign
- the freedom of speech in Parliament, in that proceedings in
Parliament were not to be questioned in the courts or in any body
outside Parliament itself (the basis of modern parliamentary privilege) - freedom from cruel and unusual punishments, and excessive bail
- freedom from fines and forfeitures without trial
Chertoff Says U.S. Needs More Authority
WASHINGTON - The nation's chief of homeland security said Sunday that the U.S. should consider reviewing its laws to allow for more electronic surveillance and detention of possible terror suspects, citing last week's foiled plot.Technorati Tags: UK, US, Bill of Rights, freedom, Chertoff, wacko
Michael Chertoff, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, stopped short of calling for immediate changes, noting there might be constitutional barriers to the type of wide police powers the British had in apprehending suspects in the plot to blow up airliners headed to the U.S.
