Future of Freedom Foundation article by Sheldon Richman entitled:

[GALTGULCH8]

In which he refers to Thomas Jefferson's thoughts in The Kentucky Resolves of 1798 which was a response to the Alien and Sedition Acts which forbid criticism of government.

<<<"“Covert” drone warfare requires a level of confidence in politicians that they will never deserve.

In the Kentucky Resolutions, the 1798 protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts, Thomas Jefferson wrote,

It would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in [politicians] to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism — free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power.

If Jefferson had this reaction to restrictions on criticism of the government, we can surmise that he would have been appalled by a government whose chief executive has the unchecked unilateral power to kill people — including American citizens — away from the traditional battlefield and without due process, on the basis of suspicions and allegations that they are “involved in planning terrorist attacks against the United States.” (The quote is from the Department of Justice White Paper on drone warfare [PDF].)

Jefferson and others of his generation understood that government was simply not something to be trusted. Rather, it was a permanent object of suspicion, because it was uniquely positioned to steal our freedoms. This of course is precisely the opposite of the attitude that government officials — Democrat and Republican — wish us Americans to hold.">>>

There is much more to the article, click on link:

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/drone-trust-the-government/

I am impressed with the efforts of Jacob Hornberger with his FFF which is widely disseminated. I think our only hope is the education of the younger generations. It is a race against time which is running short.

[BaalChatzaf]

In which he refers to Thomas Jefferson's thoughts in The Kentucky Resolves of 1798 which was a response to the Alien and Sedition Acts which forbid criticism of government.

<<<"“Covert” drone warfare requires a level of confidence in politicians that they will never deserve.

In the Kentucky Resolutions, the 1798 protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts, Thomas Jefferson wrote,

If Jefferson had this reaction to restrictions on criticism of the government, we can surmise that he would have been appalled by a government whose chief executive has the unchecked unilateral power to kill people — including American citizens — away from the traditional battlefield and without due process, on the basis of suspicions and allegations that they are “involved in planning terrorist attacks against the United States.” (The quote is from the Department of Justice White Paper on drone warfare [PDF].)

It would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in [politicians] to silence our fears for the safety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism — free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribes limited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obliged to trust with power.

Jefferson and others of his generation understood that government was simply not something to be trusted. Rather, it was a permanent object of suspicion, because it was uniquely positioned to steal our freedoms. This of course is precisely the opposite of the attitude that government officials — Democrat and Republican — wish us Americans to hold.">>>

There is much more to the article, click on link:

http://fff.org/explore-freedom/article/drone-trust-the-government/

I am impressed with the efforts of Jacob Hornberger with his FFF which is widely disseminated. I think our only hope is the education of the younger generations. It is a race against time which is running short.

To answer the man's question: What has America become? The answer is bad-ass. We live in a bad-ass world and we have to be bad-ass to survive in a bad-ass world. And that is rather too bad, yes?

Ba'al Chatzaf