Hello all,

My name is Jason Bradshaw, and I am writing you today to try to shed some light on the dark
situation that we are facing as a society. First, I would like to make this clear I am not an anarchist.
I believe in order for a society to function properly there must be laws. However, I do not believe the government does everything for the right reasons. I would like everyone to take one second and think of where our government exercises their powers today as opposed to a decade ago.
First, lets take a look at the USA Patriot act of 2001. This Bill was signed into law on October 26, 2001, just a mere month and a half after September 11, 2001.1⁠ The purpose of the law was to aid the US law enforcement agencies in fighting terrorism. The government procured our approval to tap telephone and, e-mail conversations as well as go through our private documents such as financial and medical records by telling us it was for our own good. We were assured this would only be exorcised on terrorists or potential terrorist, but if you look at how the government defines a terrorist2⁠, you will also see a vagueness in the term potential terrorist. You can see how easy it would be for the government to invade the privacy of people who are exercising their God given right to free speech, or speak against the government. If we allow this type of invasion of an American's privacy, who is to say we will not give up other rights when the government claims its for our safety. Our government should be of the people, for the people, by the people. So why are we letting our politicians play out their personal agendas?
I cannot think of a better example of a personal agenda then the 2004 Republican National Convention. Not only was the 2004 RNC an untactful attempt to raise George Bush's ratings, but it is believed to be a showing of the Governments police-state dream world. New York employed more then 10,000 police officers in full riot gear armed with submachine guns and rifles for security reasons3⁠. The Government unlawfully detained 1800 peace full protesters and held them in a condemned building on the Hudson River, many “prisoners” reported overcrowding, contamination with oil and asbestos, and some have even reported chemical burns from their stay at the “Guantanamo on the Hudson.”4⁠ Yet, Mayor Giuliani claimed the assault on our right to free speech was to protect us from another terrorist attack? Since when did censorship become a protection measure?
Yet another horror story about our Government's inability to protect American citizens. Scott Loper is a American Citizen and a former New Jersey police officer who was living in Canada. Loper was on the verge of exposing a narcotic ring run by the police in Durham, Ontario, when was discovered by the ring imprisoned and tortured for four years on trumped-up charges.5⁠ When the nightmare was over Scott went to the US Government with a hope of justice. At that time the Canadian Government denied any record of the incident or even his residency in Canada.6⁠ After years of harassing phone calls from our government, and constant dead-ends, the Canadian Government told the State Department that Mr. Loper had denied his right to consulate, but could not produce a signed document7⁠. The Canadian Government was caught in a lie. Finally our government had enough evidence to defend Mr. Loper, but the best they could tell him was to go back to Canada and fight the Canadian Government on their turf.8⁠ Not a smart idea in any since of the word. Could this be our government protecting their plan for the North American Union? Who would vote to become a permanent room mate with a government if all the cover ups are exposed?
Coming through the education system, everything I was told about the UN lead me to believe it is a good thing. They are an organization that believes in international peace and security. What I was not taught was the UN charter goes completely against our constitution. If you read the UN charter you will find our constitution and the UN charter cannot coexist. The United Nations is comprised of two decision making organs, the Security Council, General Assembly, and other organs that work as its tools.9⁠ The group of members called the Security Council makes the final decisions in the organization. The Security Council consists of 15 PERMANENT members and ten members elected by the General Assembly. It doesn't take much of an imagination to see how unconstitutional this is, or the explosive power this type of leadership contains.
Yet our government leads us to the belief this is all for our own good, but who is the government to tell us what is for our own good. It is time for people to realize the problems are not getting any better. Our liberties are being taken away, and the government is selling us on this by telling us its for our safety. The USA Patriot act is the worst attack on our freedom, and we let it happen. Our for fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence, "whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." So how many rights must we have taken away from us before we say enough is enough? Is it not obvious that we should fix the problem now before it gets to the point of no return? Should we give up all of our liberties for supposed safety? These are the questions everyone should be asking themselves, because before to long these decisions will have to be made.


References
1. “USA PATRIOT Act (H.R. 3162),” http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html; “USA PATRIOT Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act.
2. “Definition of terrorism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism; “USA PATRIOT Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”; “USA PATRIOT Act (H.R. 3162).”
3. “2004 Republican National Convention protest activity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Republican_National_Convention_protest_activity
4. Ibid.
5. “The Scott Loper Story,” http://scottloperstory.com/index.html
6. Ibid.
7. “Document sought in case of cop who reported torture,” http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61624
8. “'Explanation' muddies case of tortured ex-cop,” http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64398
9. “Charter of the United Nations,” http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/