If we were truly drunk with power, we've have long ago thrown off any lingering pretext of caring what the rest of the world thought and would act unilaterally on every issue such that it benefitted the US and ONLY the US
This is not the context I was trying to convey. What I was trying to say is that alot of individual americans and many people on this thread are drunk on the power of the US government. They revel in the power of thier government over other individuals. And, because they enjoy this so much they overlook the peril for them when they give up their personal rights so quickly.
To be specific, we are willing to give up due process to get the "bad guys". Undoubtably, under the right circumstances, this can ease and speed the process of getting bad buys. Obviously, this surrender of rights and due process is being given with an implicit trust. We are saying: "please take our hard earned rights and laws away from us - we trust you to be fair".
This attitude surprises me coming from a group that do not trust our government from taking thier right to bear arms. Understand that the very same valid concerns you have about certain candidates and
people already in office in regards to gun rights should be the same concerns about certain government officails taking away our due process, privacy and rights. As everybody knows, it is much harder to get rights back after they are given up than it is to keep them when you already have them.
My main point is that giving up due process, privacy and personal freedoms is
MORE DANGEROUS than even giving up gun rights. People on here seem to entertain the fact that if they have their guns, no one in the government will dare tread on them. Lets get real. If you say that, you are saying that you are going to shoot it out with the police, cia, fbi or military if they try to imprision you without due process. We all know that is not how it is gonna go. That cowboys fantasy is not gonna happen.
The other thing is that alot of people entertian the idea the having guns will allow militia to rise up and overthrow the unjust government if it gets out of control. While this is exactly what our founding fathers suggested we should do in that case, it is not gonna help the violated individual. Why? because it never has.
What happens in the real world is that some law enforcement agency comes and takes a citizen away. Family members are helpless, friends are surprised and strangers say: "did you hear about so and so? Yep, that is a shame". Whamo, that is the end of it. Eventually, if there is enough pressure, there will be a statement released declaring you guilty of something and that will be how you were rememberd. Close the book, story over.