Albert Burns -- Just A Matter Of Time

I wonder just how many Americans are truly paying attention to what is happening to their rights, their freedoms and their Constitution. I suspect that the number is tragically small.

In past columns, we have called attention to the maneuvers of those who would centralize all political power, first in Washington, and then in the Executive Branch of our government. These moves are becoming more and more blatant and open. The "secret combinations" seem to be convinced that the public is too ignorant, complacent, confused, or satisfied with things as they are. (Pick One!)

President Bush has just given Congress the most far-reaching power grab which this country has seen since FDR tried to "pack" the Supreme Court in the 1930s. The "Homeland Security Act" which he has submitted to Congress will, if enacted by Congress, amount to an incredible reorganization of our federal government through a total disregard for the U.S. Constitution. The end result of this bill will be to set the stage for an ultimate dictatorship in this country. Sound fantastic? It couldn't happen here? Don't you believe it!

This act is designed to transfer about 22 different ENFORCEMENT divisions of various agencies into one gigantic FEDERAL police force. It would give the Secretary of Homeland Security massive new powers to spy on, set up data files on individuals, and interfere in state and local affairs all in the guise of "protecting" us from "terrorists."

By transferring all those enforcement divisions from their present agencies into this one monster bureaucracy they will, effectively, be REMOVED from all Congressional oversight by any committee, as is presently the case. Constitutional restrictions will be simply ignored. For instance, the act gives the Secretary the power to acquire, exchange, dispose of, lease, etc. federal property. The Constitution clearly designates that this is a Congressional power which Congress is being asked to hand over to this new leviathan.

One of the things which liberals hate most about conservative Constitutionalists is that we have BAD memories — we DON'T forget the past! Over the past several years, we have had a number of "crises" which have occurred in this country which have precipitated new calls for "legislation" to prevent similar things from happening again. There is an assassination (John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King) or a building catches fire (Waco, Oklahoma City, World Trade Center) and almost like magic, in a day or so, Congress is presented with a new law to take away the rights of, not the perpetrators of the acts, but of the vast majority of U.S. residents whether they be citizens or not. NOTE: In almost every one of these killings or fires or explosions, used to justify the new assaults on the Constitution, there remain serious questions of federal involvement in each case. More and more information is surfacing almost daily of, at best, malfeasance of some agency in failing to stop an attack, even after warnings had been received.

Has something like this ever happened before? Of course! As George Santayana put it, "Those who will not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."

In 1933, there was a disastrous fire which destroyed the German Reichstag building. Although the Nazis blamed the Communists for setting it, history has shown that it was the Nazis themselves who committed the arson as a means of bringing Hitler to power. The NEXT day, Hitler convinced President Von Hindenberg to invoke a section of the Weimar Constitution which permitted the suspension of ALL civil liberties in a time of "national emergency." This suspension removed freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right of assembly, right to privacy, protection against unlawful searches and seizures, individual property rights and, significantly, the right of states to govern themselves! A supplemental decree created the SA (Storm Troops) and the SS (Special Security) federal police agencies. These decrees enabled the Nazis to ruthlessly suppress ALL opposition in an upcoming election. That election gave the Nazis only 44% of the vote but Hitler took control. Over the next few weeks, the local Nazi groups created extreme disorder in each of the individual states which provided an "excuse" for replacing the elected state government with Nazi Reich Commissioners.

Several weeks later, the Reichstag passed the Law for Terminating the Suffering of People and Nation which granted Hitler dictatorial power. The rest is history.

One of the most effective tools of the Geheim Staatspolitzei (Gestapo) was "protective custody" where a person was seized, held as long as desired, denied all legal representation, often tortured and/or murdered.

Could that happen here? No, you say? Consider the case of accused "terrorist" Jose Padilla, U.S. citizen! He has been seized and held. He has not been charged! He has had his citizenship REVOKED by Executive Order by Bush and has been turned over to "military custody." The Washington Post has editorialized:

"...nothing would prevent the President— even in the absence of a formal declaration of war-- from designating any American as an enemy combatant. Without proving the correctness of the charge before the court, the military could detain that person forever. And having done so, it could prevent that detainee from hiring a lawyer to argue that the government, in fact, has it all wrong. If that's the case, nobody's constitutional rights are safe!"

We, as a nation and a people, are on a VERY slippery slope here. The Jews had their rights denied by the Nazis. The Mormons had their rights attacked by Governor Boggs. The Japanese had their rights revoked by Executive Order in W.W.II. Note that both the concept of "protective custody" and the revocation of all or part of a person's citizenship have been exercised in this country in the last six months. Who is NEXT? You? Me? A VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE, INDEED!

Burns has been active in the freedom fight for 37 years. Residing in Utah and member of the John Birch Society. For almost three years he has written a newspaper column for the Spanish Fork Press. All during 1999, he wrote the column giving information and advice on emergency preparedness of all kinds. His columns can be read nationally and internationally via the Internet.

Burns has an extensive knowledge of the conspiracy which has been working so hard to destroy this nation and incorporate it into a one world government. He has developed an extensive personal research library. avburns@mindspring.com

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