Who Will Stand Up For Our Civil Liberties?

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Which presidential candidates will stand up for our civil liberties? I think there should be no bigger issue than our civil liberties. Our civil liberties are what makes us free. They are the very basis of what it's supposed to mean to be in a free society. If we do not have them, then we are not free. This "freedom" that we supposedly have? It's nothing but an illusion.

Do you know what does not make us free? Do you know what has nothing to do with our freedom? Invading other countries to "install democracy." Spending billions of dollars for a bloated military that is largely unnecessary. Spending ridiculous amounts of money and resources on organizations like the DEA that do little more than harass the people of our country.

What is the biggest threat to our freedom? It's not "terrorists" and it's not definitely not Iraq. It's our own government. It's our government which jails people for doing things that should be protected by the constitution (smoking marijuana for an excellent example.) It's our government which is detaining people without giving them their rights because they are "suspected terrorists." It's our government which is tapping the phones of American citizens without a warrant!

So again I ask: Which presidential candidates will stand up for our civil liberties? Unfortunately the list is very short: Mike Gravel, Ron Paul, and Dennis Kucinich. Among the many reasons why these three candidates stand out from the crowd is that these are the only three candidates who have openly spoke out for the legalization of marijuana.

If you are not for the legalization of marijuana then you are part of an oppressive force against the very basic fabric of what it means to be an American. End Of Story. There is no reasonable argument that anyone can give that someone should be jailed for doing nothing more than smoking or growing marijuana. It should be every Americans right to put whatever they want into their own body and to grow whatever they want on their own property. If you are not hurting someone else, then you should be absolutely free to do whatever you want. What is the justification for marijuana being illegal while much more harmful & dangerous drugs are being sold every hour on television (pharmaceuticals)? When drugs like cigarettes & alcohol which are responsible for thousands of deaths every year are legal.

To be clear, I'm not advocating that these other drugs be illegal. Not at all. What I'm saying is what is the justification for the illegality of marijuana in a society where much more dangerous drugs are illegal. There is none. I cannot think of a better example of our civil liberties being trampled on than the "War on Drugs." The "War on Drugs" is a war on the American people.

These three candidates (Mike Gravel, Ron Paul, & Dennis Kucinich) are also the most strongly against the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act. If you are a true American then you know how despicable these things are. How much money they've wasted. How many innocent people's lives they've ended. And how many of our civil liberties have been taken away under the guise of "protecting us."

Why would even consider a lukewarm candidate that won't stand up for your rights and do what's right for America? Barack Obama? Hillary Clinton? John Edwards? Sure they are all a million times better than George W Bush or Rudolph Giuliani, but what is that saying? Is that really the standard that we judge candidates by? Don't we deserve more? This is supposed to be the land of the free.

America was founded on the ideals of freedom from tyranny and oppressive governments. Let us be truly American again, let us be truly free.

Learn more about these candidates that speak the truth and believe in your right to exercise your civil liberties:

Mike Gravel, Ron Paul, & Dennis Kucinich.