En tid efter 9/11 upptäckte amerikanerna att deras telefonsamtal var avlyssnade. Denna hemlighet hade hållts i det fördolda av amerikanska media. New York times kände till årets största scoop i över ett år innan man publicerade den som en nyhet under december 2005. Ron Paul skriver:

“That in itself should give us paus: why, in a free society with a supposedly independent media, did arguably the most influential newspaper in the United States keep Americans in the dark about a program like this? The answer we were given involved unspecified national security concerns that the Times supposedly did not want to jeopardize. But that explanation does not hold water at all. We may safely assume that terrorists are clever enough to realize that our government is listening in on their conversations, even without the Times telling them so. The very name of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 is a dead giveaway. As far as we have been told, the only way that this program, administered by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), diverged from previous intelligence efforts is that this one operated without FISA warrants-warrants issued in secret by special courts, in conformity with the 1978 Act. Awareness of this aspect of the program would have done nothing to aid terrorists. FISA warrants are issued in secret anyway, so neither under FISA nor under the NSA program would a terrorist know for sure that the government was eavesdropping on his conversations. It looks very much like the old story: the government says “national security” and the natural and normal skepticism that our Founding Fathers taught us to have toward the government is promptly abandoned. The simple and straight forward reason the executive branch wanted the program kept secret, its consistent obfuscation notwithstanding, seems to be that it violated the law.”

Ron Paul, The Revolution - A Manifesto´, sid 110 of.

Jag vill här göra en liten utvikning till en annan bok: “A Nation of Sheep” författad av en domare i Amerikas Högsta Domstol (författningsdomstol), Andrew P. Napolitano. Napolitano skriver träffsäkert om hur USA har utvecklats mot en alltmer totalitär (alltså inte endast auktoritär) stat efter 9/11:

“Picture this: The Attorney General of the United States testifies under oath that the president is not ordering federal agents to read the mail, listen to the telephone calls, and monitor the computer keystrokes of ordinary Americans, without a warrant to do so from a judge. That would be criminal. But six months later, the president admits he has done so.

Picture this: The Constitution prohibits Congress from abridging free speech. But suddenly, Congress has made it a crime to talk about receiving self-written search warrants from an FBI agent.

Picture this: The Constitution guarantees speedy, fair jury trials with defence counsel, but all of the sudden, Congress authorizes the president to dispense with those rights if the U.S. military has incarcerated you in Cuba.

And one more: The Constitution guarantees that the government can only force you to sell your house to it if it plans a public use of the property. But now the Supreme Court is telling the government it can sell your house to your neighbor, against your will.

These are not Hollywood movie plots but recent, unhappy history. They are just a few events in the sad story of liberty lost to an out-of-control government that we have sheepishly permitted to subvert our rights.”

A Nation of Sheep, sid ix

Förlusten av frihet och medias ovilja i Ron Pauls exempel att ens rapportera om att medborgares telefonsamtal blir avlyssnade, vittnar om en skrämmande verklighet som vi även ser i Europa. Utöver FISA bör något även sägas om ”Patriot Act” som inriktar sig på amerikanska medborgare och inte på utländska terrorister. Problemet med ”Patriot Act” är själva definitionen på terrorism. Idag räcker det med att du protesterar mot regeringen för att du skall hamna under övervakning. Dina aktiviteter på internet övervakas likaså och det internetbolag du använder kan tvingas lämna ut uppgifter om dig utan en officiell ansökan om förundersökning för brott. Ron Paul frågar med rätta hur detta gagnar kampen mot terrorismen? De åtgärder som nu vidtas hade nämligen aldrig förhindrat 9/11 från att inträffa. Ingen har lyckats styrka detta. Tvärtom var vapenförbudet för flygplanspersonal något som bidrog till kapningen av planen. Övervakningsdomstolar kan nu inhämta information om medborgares medicinska journaler och biblioteksvanor utan att personen får reda på det. De kan således inte överklaga intrånget och saknar därför grundläggande integritetsskydd.

“The administration´s interest in all e-mail is a wholly unhealthy precedent, especially given this administration´s track record on FBI files an IRS snooping. Every medium by which people communicate can be subject to exploitation by those with illigal intentions. Nevertheless, this is no reason to hand Big Brother the keys to unlock our e-mail diaries, open our ATM records, read our medical records, or translate our international communications…The implications here are far-reaching, with impacts that touch individual users, companies, libraries, universities, teachers, and students.”

Manifesto´, sid 117.

Napolitano frågar sig: “Why should government agents spy on us? They work for us. How about we spy on them? On cops when they arrest and interrogate people or contemplate suspending freedom; on prosecutors when they decide whom to prosecute and what evidence to use; on judges when the rationalize away our guaranteed rights; and on members of Congress whenever they meet with a lobbyist, mark up a piece of legislation, or conspire to assault or liberties or our pocketbooks.”

Citerad i Manifesto´, sid 118

Det fins nu inget radikalt med en liknande attityd alls, då den grundas på naturrätten. Ron Paul skriver att det var precis så den amerikanska konstitutionens grundare tänkte. Det är så en libertarian tänker.

Jag avrundar detta långa inlägg med en favoritrepris från Ron Pauls presidentvalskampanj:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trAiCwzSVho

Lyssna till vad Lew Rockwell säger om Ron Pauls bok - The Revolution A Manifesto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEVcHehJFS0