Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
In his speech Restoring British Liberties (dated January 7, 2011), Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg talked about the freedom and the “hard-won liberties” that people in Britain have held dear. He talked about the standards of a nation that have been the hallmarks of a civilized society to which people who are victims of oppression in other places around the world have looked to as a beacon of hope…as an example of a better way of life.
Clegg claimed that in recent times under Labour many of Britain’s best traditions have suffered—and that many of its civil liberties “have been undermined, eroded, lost.”
Clegg said:
They[Labour] turned Britain into a place where schools can fingerprint your children without their parents’ consent. Where councils use surveillance powers designed to tackle crime to check if you’re cleaning up after your dog. Where thousands of new criminal offences have amassed on to the statute book. Where you are 7 times more likely to be stopped and searched by the police if you are black or Asian. Where, in one year, we saw over 100,000 terror-related stop-and-searches, none of which yielded a single terror arrest.
They made Britain a place where you could be put under virtual house arrest when there was not enough evidence to charge you with a crime. And with barely an explanation of the allegations against you. A place where young, innocent children caught up in the immigration system were placed behind bars. A Britain whose international reputation has been brought into question because of our alleged complicity in torture.
That record is an affront to everything we stand for.
It has created a fundamental imbalance between British citizens and the British state; disempowering individuals, criminalising innocent people, fuelling mistrust between communities, and diminishing this nation’s moral authority too.
Clegg went on to enumerate the ways in which the Coalition Government would address the problems in 2011, which included the following:
Three: by ending the practices of closed and secretive government; giving people the information and freedom they need to hold us and other institutions to account.
Does any of what Clegg said ring familiar to you? Do you believe that some of our civil liberties have been undermined and eroded in this country—especially over the past decade? Do you think that we Americans need to be ever vigilant about the loss of our “hard-won” freedoms? Do you think that “we the people” should have the freedom and information that we need to hold our political leaders and government institutions to account?
Source: Liberal Democrats
Buckeye,
Thanks for responding to my questions and to the post.
The answer to all the proposed questions is yes.
Warrentless wiretapping is one of the biggest problems. If future anti-government proponents are reduced to carrier pigeons for coordination communications, their chances for success will certainly be drastically curtailed.
The only hope is that the prolifiration of communication devices will eventually outstrip the super computers’ ability to track everything. The courts must return their power to themselves.
I think the biggest problem is the ability of national and international corporations to influence the purchase of “democratically elected” legislatures and influence the laws meant to regulate these entities. I don’t know how that may be effected.
Crying wolf about tyranny and police states that don’t really exist simply muddies any reform waters. As does unrealistic expectation of quick redress of serious high level crimes.
We’ve been here before during the Cold War when citizen’s rights were abridged. Hopefully we can come about this time as well.
An important story:
Coleen Rowley, Former FBI Special Agent
Posted: January 10, 2011 12:42 PM
OMB Orders Government Agencies to Monitor Disgruntled Employees — What’s Next?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/coleen-rowley/omb-orders-government-age_b_806145.html?page=1
“The OMB memo does not describe what happens when an employee has been labeled an “insider threat” for failing the happiness test. Does the agency pull the employee’s clearance on such thin evidence? The Executive Order that provides guidance for adjudication of security clearances does not mention a requisite number of smiles. Or, will the employee be jailed without due process, as the government now does with those it deems outsider threats? Perhaps “Positive Psychology” Guru Martin Seligman (nicknamed “Dr. Happy”) will be able to sell a civilian form of his $125 million “Comprehensive Soldier Fitness” (CSF) “holistic testing” and “learned optimism-resiliency” training to the rest of the US Government. What kind of government will we have when all this pixie dust has settled? Will we have a diverse and creative workforce, courageously challenging complacency and corruption? Or will we have a Stepford workforce where smiling obedience is the only skill that matters?” (end excerpt)
She’s fine Ms. Elaine. It’s been kinda a mess the last couple of years. My brother and I went to the funeral home last week and made, or shall I say completed the process started by my parents many years ago. The day in which my mother will pass she shall be placed as planned on top of my father at his final resting stop. The only difference is she will be in a cremated vault above his casket instead of her in a casket, so that was good but only to be freaked out 4 days later in an accident in which she could have lost her life. Thats scary stuff in this family. My parents told me lots of stories of spirits in their past. I’ve had a few in my lifetime as well including a Jacksonville Sheriffs officer that had been killed years prior at a restaurant I use to manage. I know his spirit was in the building the night in question.
I could feel it. My mother tells a story in which she was pregnant with my brother, my father off to war how she was visited by her father in the form of a shadow. Ms. Elaine I have story after story. This whole incident has started a draft called, “I Remember My Mother”
Bdaman,
I read some of the articles about those requests for Wikileaks Twitter information.
BTW, how is your mother doing?
I thought I’d get more reaction to this post.
You would have MS. Elaine but your program got interrupted and people died. It’s hard to recover after dying.
As to your original question before the murders my opinion is this.
It seems like the government has been telling us especially as of late, it’s our way or the highway. When the government can do that they can do anything. As far as the ID thing, why? Whats the purpose? So the government can no more about you than you know of them.
US orders Twitter to divulge personal info on Icelandic MP with ties to WikiLeaks
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/orders-twitter-divulge-personal-info-icelandic-mp/
Mark,
I thought I’d get more reaction to this post. It seems we’re quite a docile population when the government erodes and undermines our freedoms and civil liberties–except when it comes to talk of gun control.
I would like to see this original topic reposted.
Didn’t Obama talk about more transparency in government before he became president?
Buddha,
thanks for the updates on the Congresswoman’s status and on the status of the investigation. I hope she can make a full recovery. I know it is an uphill battle for her, but I have my hopes.
AP is now reporting the Sheriff as saying there the gunman acted alone, citing paperwork found at his house:
“Investigators said they carried out a search warrant at Jared Loughner’s home and seized an envelope from a safe with messages such as ‘I planned ahead,’ ‘My assassination’ and the name ‘Giffords’ next to what appears to be the man’s signature.”
More about the youngest victim . . . her name was Christina-Taylor Green.
“Among the six killed and 13 injured reportedly in Tucson, Ariz. was 9-year-old third-grader Christina-Taylor Green. Green had two personal connections to Major League Baseball; she was a daughter of Los Angeles Dodgers scout John Green and a granddaughter of former Philadelphia Phillies manager Dallas Green.
From the portrait painted in the Arizona Daily Star, she seemed like a neat little girl all on her own:
• She was already a good speaker, her father said, Green recently was elected to the student council at her elementary school.
• Green told her parents she wanted to attend Penn State and make a career helping those less fortunate.
• She loved animals and dancing — especially ballet — along with hip-hop and jazz music.
• She was athletic, too; Green liked to go swimming with her 11-year-old brother, also named Dallas. She also was the only girl on her Little League baseball team. She played second base.
Her grandfather, 76, managed the Phillies when they won the World Series in 1980. He also managed the Yankees and Mets and was general manager of the Chicago Cubs.”
From: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Dallas-Green-s-granddaughter-dies-in-Arizona-sho?urn=mlb-305133
Thanks for the update and details, BIL.
This just in . . .
“Congresswoman Giffords is able to respond to simple commands and communicate with her doctors, hospital officials said this morning. She remains on a ventilator, so is not able to speak at this time.
The bullet traveled the entire length of the left side of her brain, her doctors said. It did not cross from one half of the brain to the other, a much worse scenario.
“Overall, this is about as good as it can get,” said Peter Rhee, the trauma medical director. Though he cautioned that her condition remains ‘very precarious.'”
Bravo for Clegg and Elaine.
Excellent post.
More of this please.
Lottakatz & eniobob,
I often watch Ed. He does get emotional. He’s passionate about certain subjects. He doesn’t “make stuff up” like Beck and Limbaugh–and he doesn’t just speak out about Republicans and right-wingers. He’s also criticized Democrats and the President.
LK:
I too appreciate Big Ed,There is no guessing where he stands and he does bring in voices from both sides on an issue,I have noticed lately that people who come on MSNBC come armed to shout down the moderator Matthews/Schultz shows in particular.
Matthews I can’t take,he may have an interesting point going on,and he starts “vomiting verbally” over other peoples opinions on his show.
From Arizona Daily Star (June 9, 2010)
Article Excerpt:
Jesse Kelly, meanwhile, doesn’t seem to be bothered in the least by the Sarah Palin controversy earlier this year, when she released a list of targeted races in crosshairs, urging followers to “reload” and “aim” for Democrats. Critics said she was inciting violence.
He seems to be embracing his fellow tea partier’s idea. Kelly’s campaign event website has a stern-looking photo of the former Marine in military garb holding his weapon. It includes the headline: “Get on Target for Victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly.”
The event costs $50.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_349e18b8-ec64-5fd7-b347-afe7f1778a47.html
Buckeye,
Sorry … I got involved in a gun battle on another thread … just want to give you a smile
🙂
Buckeye (re: Ed Schultz)
Well he’s probably no more nuts than any Tea Party denizen, but his rhetoric is certainly incindiary.
—-
Well, he started of last week by referring to the House Republicans as “bastards” and called John Bahnor “the bartender in chief” as I recall but Bahnor’s drinking is an open secret (and maybe why he has little emotional control) and the house Republican’s are.
Also Shultz is very pro labor. He can’t hold a candle to Glen Beck and he’s never referred to the President as a “halfrican” though. He’s my guilty pleasure among commentators.
Slarti
No. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely, but in a civil manner.
I’m going to bed now. No gun under the pillow, either, but that’s a place I’m not going. Been there, done that.