Complacency is letting government slowly erode our basic freedoms

Dear editor:

Benjamin Franklin, in 1759, said that "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither and will lose both."

I've always had the utmost respect for our founding fathers, and put more stock into what they said than I do for anyone living today. Our founders had a far clearer vision than anybody in 2013 could ever hope to have, as well they should have, as they would soon off-load the oppressive Brits. (The English incidentally, are still "subjects,"not "citizens." There's a big difference).

The founding fathers, who wanted only to live as free men, were under the thumb of a government drunk, pompous and arrogant with power, that fed itself on monarchy, heavy taxes and constant intervention into citizens' lives. Sound familiar?

We became a free country after having fought a Revolutionary War. In 1861, it was brother vs. brother, as once again, one side was being unfairly taxed and being told how to live. Yes, slavery was an issue and needed to be abolished, but it still came down to "Big Brother" and states' rights. A terrible waste of time and blood really, when so many are willing to surrender into eventual slavery today, without ever being chained this time. Just a simple matter of following the pied piper.

To oppose as Franklin, Jefferson and Washington did though, will mark you as a radical today, in place of what was once a patriot. How dare we stand up for our Constitution and demand any form of accountability, even as we are being robbed on a daily basis?

George Washington, if he was alive today, would be labeled an "isolationist" and a "scrooge," wanting to keep both us and our tax dollars "out of foreign affairs." Madison, Jefferson and Adams would be chastized for daring to be Americans and refusing "political correctness." In 2013, Ben Franklin would be fined for flying a kite without a permit.

Today, as in times past, it is once a again a matter of being dictated to, the elite being "above the law," we are being taxed at will at every turn, and the government is into every facet of our lives.

But unlike in Washington's time, at least half of this country is numb to it. Our founders left a charter in writing on how to preserve what they gained for us, but few have ever bothered to read it.

It USED to be a federal crime to read other people's mail. I guess that doesn't apply to e-mail, and certainly can't apply to the Washington elite, can it? They're better than we are and obviously know what's better for us than we do, because they're doing it anyway.

Barack Obama just told a crowd in San Jose, Calif., that we can't have 100 percent security and privacy, so choices will have to be made. I'm with Ben Franklin. Sacrifice one and you eventually lose them both.

If they still teach "un-indoctrinated history" in our schools, one would easily see that it's not much different today than when King George was ruling the colonies.

The only difference is that the citizens back then were NOT content to just lay back, smoke a joint, have a beer and lament "It's all good, it's all good."

The D.C. elite count HEAVILY on our complacency. The real power of the "boogeyman" is that people will NOT believe in him. But he's there, baby. He truly is.

As I said a couple of weeks ago, I do not like where this country is headed.

-- Mike Bradbury