Tuesday, June 4, 2013

First DNA testing. Then....and then.....and then....



"It may be wise, as the court obviously believes, to make the Leviathan all-seeing, so that he may protect us all the better. But the proud men who wrote the charter of our liberties would not have been so eager to open their mouths for royal inspection. I dissent."


These are the words of Antonin Scalia, who yesterday was one of four Supreme Court justices, that dissented in the 5-4 ruling that allows the police to DNA test us without a warrant if we are a suspect in a "serious" crime.

And here it begins.
 
Remember when there was no legal requirement to wear a seat belt?  Then came laws saying we had to wear it or get ticket - but only if we were stopped for doing something else.  Now, we can be stopped and ticketed just for the refusal to protect ourselves from a wreck.  It does not matter that we own our bodies and cars and thus the seat belts.  Get a ticket for not using your property the way the state says you should.  I wonder what we will be required to use next?
 
Remember when you could willingly refuse to engage in commerce?  Now the Obama Administration tells us that starting next year we could be fined or ultimately jailed if we refuse to engage in commerce in the health insurance sector.  I wonder what we will be required to buy next?
 
Remember when we could read our mail without worrying about the government reading it first?  Now, thanks to the Patriot Act the powers that be can read our mail, our email and monitor our Internet activity - and prosecute us without first letting us know that they have been reading our personal correspondence.  I wonder what they will listen in on, or read next?
 
These, of course, are on top of a million other laws and regulations telling us what we can eat, what we can and cannot say, which adults we can have consensual relationships with, whose dinner we have to buy, what retirement plan we will be forced to contribute to, where we can set up a business, what type of business it can be, what type of employees can work there, what we must pay them and on and on and on...
 
People say to me - when I express concern over issues like this - "Mr. Chambless, if you aren't doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about. 
 
Incorrect. 
 
It is because I am doing nothing wrong that I do worry.
 
Why?
 
Because the government keeps changing the definition of "wrong."
 
Mark my words.  Within 10 years we will be DNA checked for far more than being suspects in serious crimes.  20 years from now we will be required to submit DNA to the government as a condition of driving, getting married and/or other pursuits. 
 
By July 4, 2076 there will be a national data bank with every American's DNA profile - and more - so that the people we put into power can know more about us than the Founders ever intended.
 
Do not be surprised if by our 300th anniversary the federal government will also have managed to have everyone submit to some form of GPS tracking. 
 
You know, to keep us "safe".






3 comments:

  1. 100% correct, you are.

    Roll over and take your lumps, relax and understand that it's all done for you. It's all out of love from your big brother.

    Here I am reading your post, minutes after I read about Polk County (yes, Florida) iris scanning kids without parents consent. Of course, it was all done for the safety of the kids.

    Off to the slaughter we go. At least they'll shave our wool off first.


    Martin

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a friend who said the same dumb line “if you aren’t doing anything wrong…”.
    I agree 100% with you Jack, but I also want to add that it isn’t just the definition of wrong. There are already too many mistakes being made where innocent people have been arrested, lost property, or killed as a result of corrupted information and too much leeway in search warrants and raids. The government has already become the citizen’s worst enemy.
    Just do an Internet search for “mistaken identity in raid”. If someone kicks down your door, it may be just as likely to be a cop with the wrong address as it is a criminal. All we need now is a database error and anyone may be the victim of a midnight no-knock raid by SWAT carrying automatic weapons and throwing grenades.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And today we find that the NSA has a court order to collect phone records for all US phone customers from Verizon.
    From the US Foreign Intelligence Court:
    "IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that, the Custodian of Records shall produce to the
    National Security Agency (NSA) upon service of this Order, and continue production on an ongoing daily basis thereafter for the duration of this Order, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, an electronic copy of the following tangible things: all call detail records or "telephony metadata" created by Verizon for communications (i) between the United States and abroad; or (ii) wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls."

    ReplyDelete