U.S. is no longer the land of the free

10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/is-the-united-states-still-the-land-of-the-free/2012/01/04/gIQAvcD1wP_story.html 

By Jonathan Turley                         January 13， 2012

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Turley

Jonathan Turley (born May 6, 1961) is an American lawyer, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. He is currently a professor of law at The George Washington University Law School.

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The framers lived under autocratic rule and understood this danger better than we do. James Madison famously warned that we needed a system that did not depend on the good intentions or motivations of our rulers: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”

Benjamin Franklin was more direct. In 1787, a Mrs. Powel confronted Franklin after the signing of the Constitution and asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?” His response was a bit chilling: “A republic, Madam, if you can keep it.”

Since 9/11, we have created the very government the framers feared: a government with sweeping and largely unchecked powers resting on the hope that they will be used wisely. 9.11以来，我们打造的恰恰是美国宪法的起草者们担心的那种政府：一个具有在很大程度上不受制约的广泛权力的政府，人们只能寄希望于政府明智地行使这些权力。

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Dishonesty from politicians is nothing new for Americans. The real question is whether we are lying to ourselves when we call this country the land of the free.

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读后感
普通美国老百姓看了文章的标题会吓一跳。
看完文章之后，会觉得这个法学教授谈的东西离我甚远。为了反恐防恐，让政府多一些权利，人民少一些自由，是可以理解的。

但是从我个人的经验来说，该文标题对美国社会敲响的警钟很有必要。美国政府这样对待我，应该不是个别现象。我也许应该contact Prof. Jonathan Turley  让他知道除了他在文中讨论的法学理论和法律条文外，美国政府还在法律系统外，对FBI所怀疑的无辜美国公民，建立了灰色的第二司法系统。在这个系统中，没有证据不要紧，只有有怀疑就可以了。然后可以编造证据（见本博客最早一篇文章
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=11805678#editor/target=post;postID=111224584526870771）。在提出证据和定罪时完全背着被告。根本就没有被告面对起诉核对事实辩解指责的机会，一旦在这个witch-hunting 的私刑法庭上判你有罪，那就是无期徒刑。不管你怎么抗议，就是顽固坚持他们的错误做法。越抗议对你的骚扰强度越大，就是要压服你。肆意侵犯公民自由的程度，肯定出乎Prof. Jonathan Turley的想象。