In a disturbing turn of events, Congress has passed a bill that requires the Federal Aviation Administration to ready a plan to incorporate the "civilian" drone program into the various flight paths making up United States airspace. The bill was signed into law by the most "open and transparent President" in the history of this nation. Mr. Obama, that champion of freedom and transparent government, could have at least gone on record as being against this continued decimation of our freedom by vetoing the bill. Chances are Congress would have sooner or later over-ridden the veto, but as they say, it is the thought that counts.
For all of our fellow citizens still so enamored with Barack Obama and the "difference" he brought to the White House, I would like to point out that President Obama could have truly marked his administration as being one of openness and change by doing all he could to get Congress to repeal USA Patriot Act. Instead, he both encouraged Congress to extend USA PATRIOT and signed the extension of that act. Barack...nothing like Dubbya? He sounds A LOT LIKE President Bush II to me. Lately President Obama has had several opportunities to strike a death blow to the proliferation of drone aircraft in the United States. Did he do so? No, the only "strike" President Obama has made so far was a drone strike that killed two American citizens in Pakistan. Here at home, Obama is whole-heartedly behind the "dronization" of the American sky. His Department of Homeland Security is placing drones with police agencies and other agencies of enforcement across America http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/07/10344710-pilots-worry-about-safety-of-allowing-domestic-drones-in-us-skies.
NOTE: I have only placed one new article here. In just a matter of seconds, you can find countless articles about the President's use of drones in foreign nations and his vision of the use of drones in the United States.
Why am I upset over the coming proliferation of drone aircraft around the world and particularly here in America? If I am doing nothing wrong, why would I care if drones were flying around spying on me?
First, drones around the world. I am upset about our government's use of drones around the world because the use of drones allows US - the United States - to overfly foreign sovereignty with relative ease and at no risk to American pilots or soldiers. I am all for no risk to our service men and women, but I am against this nation's flagrant disregard of the sovereignty of other nations, while at the same time demanding that these same nations respect sovereignty. This is hypocrisy at its absolute worst. Smaller nations around the world must look to the skies with dread, wondering when a drone will drop out of the sky and rain down missiles on them. Yes, the drones will supposedly be hunting war "criminals" and those hostile to the United States, but they will inevitably accidentally strike civilians who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or who are simply mistaken for "terrorists." I am outraged that people around the world must be in fear for their lives because of the United States of America, the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. I am outraged that the freedom and hope this nation has inspired to other nations over the years is now being replaced with a sense of dread and resentment that our nation and our President have the power of life and death over so many people around the world. Granted, the United States could destroy the world with our nuclear arsenal, but the possibility of this situation is remote. Not so the possibility that Barack Obama or any president to follow could send a drone to any nation at any time to kill any specific person.
Second, I am outraged and disgusted that we have reached a point here in the United States 1) that our government feels the need to spy on US, on you and me; 2) that our government and many corporations acting at the government's behest have the capability through drone aircraft technology to spy on us; 3) that WE - the People - are as yet standing by like sheep while the government implements its plan to have 30,000 or so drones in operation by 2020 so that we will be spied on at all times. You may say "Amigo, if you have nothing to hide, WHY are you so upset that drones will be flying around recording your activities? Why, indeed?
First of all, it is my INALIENABLE RIGHT to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. That means that as long as the police do not suspect me of committing a specific crime, they have no reason, and NO RIGHT, to spy on me, to conduct surveillance on me, to follow me, or even to compel me to tell why I am where I am and why I am doing what I am doing. The police (and remember I am a former police officer) have no right to walk into your house just to find out what you are doing. The police (nor ANY agency of ANY level of our government) have no right to walk onto your property and see what you are doing on your property. The police have no right to fly over property looking for violations and offenses. Are you growing marijuana in the privacy of your own little jungle? Even in this case, the police must SUSPECT your are growing marijuana BEFORE they have the right (what we call Probable Cause) to then fly over your property. Air flights that have allowed police to accidentally find marijuana must be just that...accidental. Otherwise the police have made an unreasonable search.
Okay, that was frivolous, but not so far off the mark. The person operating the drone system will be able to see everything you and I do. We all have seen or heard of examples of closed circuit television operators in stores "zooming in" on attractive ladies, looking down their blouses, looking into dressing rooms, admiring their posteriors...or a hundred other inappropriate uses of the security cameras. Now, multiply this by 30,000 and eliminate even the slight accountability that store security guards have to their supervisors, and you can begin to see the problem with having such a huge and out of control drone program.
Here is a danger that is not so frivolous but is very real. With up to 30,000 drones flying around the country, the chances for collisions between drones and manned aircraft become astronomical. Remember, our air traffic controllers are even now barely able to keep track of all the airplanes in the sky. Not only are the chances of such collisions great, the reality is that such collisions are inevitable. A drone the size of small airplane could crash into a passenger jet, causing a great disaster. But remember, some drones are as large as fighter jets. The idea of all these new bodies flying around our airspace is not very comforting. But what is really angering is that the use of all these drones is completely unnecessary. And unwarranted.
I encourage each of you to let your representative know that you are against the domestic use of drones. I urge you also to let your representative know that you are opposed to the use of drones in foreign nations unless the United States is specifically - and legally- at war with that nation. That is, no declaration of war against another nation - no military drones deployed in that nation. I hope that you will not fall for the line that if you have nothing to hide, you have no reason to be opposed to drones flying around spying on you. I hope that you will demand that laws be enacted restricting the use of drones to military purposes in legal military operations, and that you will demand laws restricting the domestic use of drones to very specific legal purposes.
We as a nation have been sold the idea that we are all safer if cameras are posted around our cities. The same principle can be applied to drones. We are being conditioned to believe that drone technology is necessary to keep us safe in this age of terrorism and the "post 9-1-1 era." I would like to point out two things. One, cameras - whether mounted on poles in cities or mounted on drones flying over cities - do not KEEP US SAFE. All they do is record what happens. No, cameras do not stop a car from running a red light, they only record the aftermath. Cameras at ATM's do not save the lives of robbery/murder victims. They only provide information to the police after the fact. Drones will be no different. They will not increase your safety, they will only increase the documentation of your injury or demise. Oh yeah, drones CAN do one thing. If President Obama decides you - an American citizen - are a threat to the nation for some reason, he can order a drone to come to you and blast you into oblivion, without the benefit of due process, of being charged and convicted of some crime.
Meanwhile, the drones over America are droning on.
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