SOME CHOICE: SOCIALIST
DEMOCRATS OR FASCIST REPUBLICANS
By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
October 10, 2006
NewsWithViews.com
Whenever some
well-meaning conservative Christian takes issue with one of my
columns chronicling the abysmal governing record of Republicans,
he or she almost always exclaims, "Think how bad it would be
if Democrats were in charge." The fact is, however, there has
been no
redemption in having the GOP in charge of the entire federal
government.
The argument
of voting for the lesser of two evils, meaning Republicans, loses
its credence when one examines the record. And the record is
clear: the GOP has developed a philosophy tantamount to fascism.
Consider the following recent developments.
The
Republican-led House of Representatives just recently approved a
bill requiring school districts around the country to establish
policies to conduct wide scale searches of students, including
pat-downs, bag searches, or strip searches. I wonder how many
parents are aware that their Republican representatives in
Washington, D.C., are wanting to require strip searches of their
children at the whim of public school employees?
Secondly, President Bush has once again defied Congress and
pushed the envelope of executive power by unabashedly stating
that he has "the power to edit the Homeland Security
Department's reports about whether it obeys privacy rules
while handling background checks, ID cards and watchlists."
Bush made the above declaration in another one of his copious
signing statements.
Yet, as
many legal experts have warned, Bush's propensity to use
excessive signing statements is nothing more than a way to
expand his power. There is little legal justification for
such action, but with Republicans in charge of Congress, who
is going to blow the whistle on him? We couldn't even trust
Congress to blow the whistle on Mark Foley!
Thirdly,
the Bush administration has apparently successfully
convinced Congress to permanently dismantle
the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It's not
worded that way, of course, but that is exactly what they
are doing.
Specifically,
according to former Republican congressman Bob Barr, the
Republican House has passed, and the Senate appears ready
to pass, legislation requested by President Bush that
would "allow warrantless surveillance of virtually
any international phone call and email of American
citizens."
The
bill also "authorize[s] the attorney general
without court approval to order Internet service
providers and other types of companies to give the NSA
access to communications and equipment regarding
information on its customers" without any proof or
evidence of those communications being connected to
terrorists.
This
legislation also
allows "warrantless physical searches of
Americans' homes for extended periods without any
evidence presented to a court that the homeowner is
conspiring with or connected to terrorists."
Barr
summarized this proposed legislation by saying,
"Taken as a whole, the powers thus sought by the
administration, and which have already been given
imprimatur by the House, would do irreparable damage
to the underpinnings of the Fourth Amendment.
"If
signed into law, these measures would destroy the
fundamental notion that American citizens enjoy a
right to privacy in their homes, persons and
businesses to be free from arbitrary government
surveillance and searches. That may sound
apocalyptic, but believe me, it is not. It is a
fact."
It
seems clear that "conservative"
Republicans want to save us from liberal
Democrats the same way that German fascists
wanted to save their country from communists. In
the end, both parties seek to dismantle freedom
and constitutional government. They only differ
in style; in substance they are twins. While
fiercely opposing each other, both parties seek
but one thing: unbridled power.
As
things stand now, we do not need to fear al
Qaeda, Iran, or North Korea near as much as
we need to fear the abuse of power from
within our own government. There is no
question in my mind that we have the
military power and strength to fight off any
foreign enemy. The bigger question is, Do we
have the moral power and strength to fight
off those within our own
country who would strip us of our freedoms?
How we answer that question will determine
our ultimate destiny.
© 2006 Chuck
Baldwin - All Rights Reserved
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Chuck Baldwin
is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads
Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.
In 1985 the church was recognized by
President Ronald Reagan for its
unusual growth and influence.
Dr. Baldwin is
the host of a lively, hard-hitting
syndicated radio talk show on the
Genesis Communications Network called,
"Chuck Baldwin Live" This is
a
daily, one hour long call-in show in
which Dr. Baldwin addresses current
event topics from a conservative
Christian point of view. Pastor
Baldwin writes weekly articles on the
internet http://www.ChuckBaldwinLive.com
and newspapers.
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