Testing our Limits

Originally attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller because of the lack of action from German intellectuals during the Nazi rise to power:

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came... )

There are many variations of this poem, but all have the same underlying theme. They all speak to the killing off of freedom by the state, by the government. They will tell you when it’s okay to play poker, they will tell you when it’s okay to travel, they will tell you how and why to fear—no need to decide for yourself.

Alas, I am going into familiar digression and will cut it short for now. The following is the “why” of today’s post.

The 2006 Military Commissions Act is now law. Let's try this baby out and see how it works.

Are you really going to accept that the concept of your individual liberty is nothing but a memory? It’s only immigrants, you say? Ignoring, for now, the general moral depravity of such a sentiment, I challenge anyone to read the actual text of the new law. American citizens, not just immigrants illegal or otherwise, can be declared enemy combatants, ask Jose Padilla.

Does it not prompt in you even the smallest sense of foreboding? If it does, please see the links below and start finding out why. If you have no sense of foreboding about this, see the links from posts below (ignore the ReviewMe) anyway, and stop taking so much from the state on faith.

See the truth, even if it is ugly and frightening, and begin to glimpse how being truly free can feel.