Comment by bluGill
6 hours ago
Probably not. The US constitution limits what government can force on the people. If the NSA tries to force something that will spend years in court (if anyone wants to fight)
6 hours ago
Probably not. The US constitution limits what government can force on the people. If the NSA tries to force something that will spend years in court (if anyone wants to fight)
The constitution limits a lot of things that this administration has done regardless.
I hear you but, the Patriot act was the gateway. View it as a spectrum from then and how the Administration is now, and suddenly what the Donald is doing doesn't even seem bad: it seems on par for the dystopian road-map laid out long ago (I can't speak for before 9/11)
> The US constitution limits what government can force on the people.
The US constitution also prohibits:
- refusing to spend money that congress has appropriated
- dismantling congressionally-created federal agencies without congressional authorization
- directing federal agencies to selectively apply the law according to the preference of the executive
- giving control of federal agencies to individuals who have not been appointed by the legislative branch
- terminating, detaining, or deporting people without due process
- retaliation against private citizens or corporations for speech protected under the first amendment
- discriminating on protected grounds under the equal protections clause
... and yet the administration has done all these things with impunity while effete judges wring their hands and write sternly-worded letters. The US constitution demonstrably no longer has any force or effect.
I'll die on the hill that this started at or before the Patriot act. Think about it. What's happening now just seems like a natural unfolding.
Long before then, but that was a major Inflection point. FDR was not friendly to Constitutional limits either.