The 4th Amendment

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is the first sentence of the first paragraph, if you don’t count the preamble, of our declaration of war against the fatherland — England for those of you that didn’t take any history classes.

“that all men are created equal.” That pretty much says it all now doesn’t it? Not that black people are only worth 3/5 ths of a white man or only white men who hold property can vote or some men are more equal than others and women don’t count at all. All Men Are Created Equal. There. That’s settled.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

It didn’t take long after the US Constitution was ratified by the States that a few changes were made, and we know these changes as The Bill of Rights. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” is the 4th amendment to the US Constitution.

Now America or The United States of America is an idea more than it is a place. Under the Bush government we argued, I still can’t believe it, over how much pain constitutes torture and isn’t torture really all right in times of war? And now at the end of the Obama government we find that a foreign power with the encouragement of a candidate for the office of President of the United States influenced our election process. And what are we arguing about now? That the information disseminated by that foreign power or as Ronald Reagan named it The Evil Empire, that information illegally obtained is o-kay because our 4th amendment doesn’t apply to foreign nations.

Really? So for anyone accused of a crime in the USA all the authorities need to do is ask the KGB to investigate? No warrants. No probable cause. Just knock the door down. Intercept communications. Do whatever is necessary to obtain a conviction and it’s all o-kay because it wasn’t done by US citizens?

Does this make sense? Do you want to live in this sort of a world?

About Art

55 years old. By training, ability and experience I am a master toolmaker. My most recent projects include designing and building a process to grind a G rotor pump shaft with four diameters and holding all four diameters within plus or minus 4 microns of nominal. This was an automated process using two centerless grinders refitted to my specifications using automatic load and unload machines plus automatic feedback gauging. I also designed and built an inspection machine to check for the presence and size of a straight knurl on a hinge pin using a vision system for non-contact gauging.
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