FREEDOM or SAFETY?



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The other day I overhead a group of people talking as I was waiting for the train.  Getting bits and pieces of their conversation, I asked what the subject was.  Smiling, an elderly gentleman turned to me and said, "We were debating about what each of us would prefer.  Would we rather have freedom in today's world or safety?"

As soon as the gentlemen told me the topic, several people started to speak up about what they thought.  One person said safety today was more important. They said that after 911, we, as Americans, learned how unsafe we were and so they were glad that the govenment had stepped in to make us safer.  Another person spoke up and said that in order for the government to make us safer, we had to willingly give up some of our freedom.  Was giving up some of our freedoms worth the extra safety?

I immediately said, "Anyone who is willing to give up freedom for safety deserves neither."  Of course, I wasn't the first to make such a statement.  Benjamin Franklin stated the same thing during the American Revolution.  Franklin said, "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both."

There are several problems that come forth when you become willing to give up your freedoms.  First, once it is given up - it is never given back.  Second, you give the government an inch and they'll take a mile.  Since the aftermath of 911 when so many Americans were eagerly willing to give up some of their freedom for safety, the decline of many American freedoms has been rapid.  In just a little over a decade, America is nothing like what she was before the sell off of freedom.  Today we have a sitting government that believes it can fully trample on every and all rights of American citizens.

This week President Obama, along with Harry Reid, has held the country hostage.  Oh they spew forth lies that the government shut down is due to the Republicans but they fail to let the public know (and mainstream media fails to let the public know) that the Republicans voted to fund every part of the government except for Obamacare.  That really ticked Obama and his cronies off. So Obama himself shut the government down - not the Republicans. This is Obama's mentally unstable method to try and bully the Republicans into giving in to his demands.  Why is Obama and the left wing so adament about imposing Obamacare on the American public? Because it goes towards taking more freedoms away.  Oh they disguise it by saying it will provide healthcare benefits to more people but, in truth, millions of people will be without healthcare coverage because it is way too costly.  It also imposes upon the American citizens a "law" that they MUST have insurance.  The U.S. Constitution directly states that the government cannot do this.  You cannot force people to buy something they either don't want or cannot afford.

But in addition to healthcare, Obamacare covers a lot more ground than health. Under Obamacare, which goes into effect on January 1, 2014, law enforcement officials and government officials will be able to search and seize your property without a warrant and without cause.  It's part of the "freedom" Americans were willing to give up to have Obamacare.  The Constitution forbids this.  But Obama has never followed the Constitution.  Obama has made himself a dictator and whatever he wants - he does.  He ignores our judicial government procedures.  That is what a dictator does.

This week, under the "limited" government shutdown (as 80% of the government is still up and operating), Obama has denied WWII veterans the right to visit monuments (that aren't even under the government's control but are privately owned).  When the veterans pushed through to see these monuments, which was their "right", Obama put up fences and surround the monuments with armed guards.  They have orders to shoot anyone trying to get through the fences.  Obama gave the order to shoot and kill American citizens who only want to visit a "publicly owned" monument.  What President in their right mind would do this?  What other President ever has?  How devious does one have to be?  How is it that he still has followers?  Obama has absolutely no legal right or authority to do this - not as President of the United States.  But he doesn't see himself as the President but as the Dictator and he is very willing to crush American citizens for his own personal, warped agendas.

Each day we can see more and more freedoms being riped away - all because Americans were willing to give up freedoms for safety.  Now, in today's America - we have little freedom and even less safety.  As Obama swings his muscle arm more violently each day - it only makes you wonder - how long will it be before this country will see another revolution?  How long will Americans stand back - looking for safety as they are deceived by entitlements - only to wake up and find that they neither have safety nor freedom?

I really feel sorry for the children of today because they are not growing up in a free republic as I did.  They do not have the freedoms that I did.  They are being "fundamentally transformed" into the kinds of people our forefathers fought against to obtain "freedom".  Our younger generations, because of the actions of Americans who willing gave up "freedom" for "safety" are now doomed to a life of enslavement.  Are we proud Americans now?