The attack on the Constitution by every branch of government on every level — federal, state, and local — is troubling to say the least. But even more troubling is a recent upward trend indicating a willingness by many Americans to surrender their constitutional rights to government under the misguided notion that doing so will make their world a safer place.
In January I wrote about a Washington Post – ABC News poll that showed how 63% of Americans were willing to give up their personal privacy rights in order to help battle terrorism.
In February I wrote about a Rasmussen poll that indicated a growing belief that the president should have the right to ignore the courts if they stand in the way of actions he feels are important to the country.
Now comes word of a new poll by the Associated Press showing that nearly 75% of Americans are OK with using unmanned aerial drone strikes to kill an American citizen abroad if that person has joined a terror organization. In addition, it showed that 6 in 10 supports the use of drones to target terrorists in general.
While this may sound reasonable, it raises several problems for constitutionalists, including:
- Regardless of any connection to terrorism, real or imagined, a person is innocent until proven guilty. Labeling someone as a terrorist should only apply if that person has been found guilty of committing an act of terrorism through the application of due process as guaranteed under the Fifth Amendment.
- Due process is the procedure guaranteed to all men, regardless of nationality, as a result of being “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
- The Constitution states, “No person shall …. be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Our constitutional rights are under assault and it appears that a growing number of Americans either don’t know or don’t care.
For more on this story, check out The New American.
