Armed drones could soon be flying over cities in America
December 11th, 2011 is a day which ushered in a new era in America, it is a day when America saw changes the likes of which we haven’t seen since George W Bush signed the PATRIOT Act, and this change wasn’t for the better. Many Americans probably don’t know what happened on that day, but this was the first time an unmanned drone was used to hunt down an American citizen on American soil and it happened in North Dakota.
At that time I admitted that this seemed like a legitimate use of an unmanned drone but lamented about the possibility of drones flying over cities all across America in the future, as well as the possibility that unmanned drones would start to play a larger role in policing the people with growing authority:
This story might be a benign example of the usage of a Predator drone on American soil, using a drone on a reconnaissance mission to ensure a situation is safe before the police enter a potentially dangerous situation seems harmless enough, but does anyone not think that their usage will become more commonplace as we move forward if we simply accept this? And as Predator drones flying over American soil becomes more commonplace are we to believe that they will not gain the authority to take more enlarged powers in law enforcement
Around that same period of time the Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which contained language which deemed the United States a battleground on the war on terror and gave the government the right to further infringe (more on that later) on our fourth amendment rights by allowing it to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely, without charge, and without a search warrant. This bill passed in a bipartisan effort with a Republican majority in the House and signed by Barack Obama into law; it is also supported by Mitt Romney, so if you think he will be all that much different than Barack Obama you had better think again.
February 8th, 2012: the Congress passes the FAA Reauthorization Act which included funding of a study on authorizing the use of 30,000 unmanned drones in the skies over America, followed shortly by news that unmanned drones will soon by flying over Washington DC and will be used by government agencies such as Homeland Security, Agriculture, the Energy Department, as well as some college campuses. The use of these drones is set to spread at an alarming rate.
Some will defend these policies by stating that if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to worry about, but that defense is simplistic and naive and misses the point altogether. The point is that if you are doing nothing wrong the government has no business spying on you and infringing on your fourth amendment right but that is exactly what is happening here.
And now for the first time we have law enforcement authorities talking openly about arming these unmanned drones:
Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone
First its unmanned drones being used sparingly for reconnaissance missions, then its unarmed drones flying over American cities and spying on American citizens, and then it is drones armed with rubber bullets and tear gas. What’s next…
The quote by James Madison below the image in my header sums it all up: “I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
When we lose our freedoms and liberties it will not be all done at once, but rather through small, almost undetectable, increments until we wake up one day and realize we are no longer free and actually are living in a police state. Do you think I am overreacting? Just look at the TSA. (Which was created under George W Bush in the PATRIOT Act.)
The TSA is planning to expand its authority from simply infringing on our fourth amendment rights at the airport to doing likewise at train stations and subways, and it looks as if a trial run at patrolling the highways is being conducted by the TSA in Tennessee. Law abiding citizens are being treated like common criminals simply for having the desire or the need to travel. And this is being done to us in the guise of being a well intended attempt at making us just a little bit safer.
Benjamin Franklin is quoted as having said, “those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety,” yet that is what has happened in America since September 11th, 2001 and we have just sat back and let it happen and over the last year plus we have seen an escalation in this type of legislation. This is what always happens when the government creates a new agency or consumes more power; it manifests like a tumor, and while it may be benign at first it grows malignant over time until we reach the point of no return. The one thing we can hold as certain is the fact that the tumor never shrinks, it becomes larger over the years until it overtakes us and brings us slowly and painfully to our end if it is not detected and removed before it is too late.
This may or not be well intentioned legislation, but someone remind me again what the road to hell is paved with…..
Trackbacks
- Is the Air Force already using unmanned drones to collect images of American citizens? « America's Watchtower
- The Air Force’s drone training program includes tracking American citizens « America's Watchtower
- 106 federal entities are now authorized to use drones on American soil « America's Watchtower
- Are the Chicago police detaining and interrogating American citizens in a secret black site? | America's Watchtower
- New Jersey town using drones to enforce ‘social distancing’ | America's Watchtower
America's Watchtower 
Thanks for the great run down on how freedoms and liberty are being erroded. I agree with you that is is another dangerous precident. 30,000 drones is an average of 600 per State. What the hell are they afraid of? People shouldn’t feel safer for these effort . They should feel threatened.
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600 per state, I hadn’t thought of it in those terms.Don’t foget DHS also ordered millions of rounds of ammo, what is going on here?
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At this point, once it is done, it will be hard to turn back to not having them. Let’s just look at what Obamacare is doing at the moment and what a mess that is. I think there are alot of people that feel “safer” to have this happening, but they don’t see the big picture, do they? This is plain and simple control any way you analyze it. The government knows what it is doing, but people will not get the big picture until it is too late and we are at their mercy. As Steve said below about the ammo that DHS has, what could they possible need it for that would benefit us? All I see is more freedoms taken away from us. People should start being very afraid and that should send up that survival instinct in them, but will it?
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I’m glad to see you back Lou, I was getting worried! You are right, once we start down this path there will be no turning back and the government will expand the use and the authority of these drones. People had better wake up and realize what is going on here.
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Thanks, Steve! I had “Nana” duty, had the 2 1/2 year old here for a week for his first time away from the parents. He did fine, but now I remember what it was like to chase someone around that goes at one speed, FAST! Now, I have to start playing my catching up on my favorite blogs to see what everyone is talking about and commenting on. There sure is alot going on, isn’t there?
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That’s great news, I am glad he did well and glad you are back. It was a busy week while you were away.
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Not to defend them for writing this bill in the first place but a New York Judge blocked 1021 last week. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-16/military-detention-law-blocked-by-new-york-judge.html. As for the drones watch this from about a week before NATO over a suburb of Chicago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzrS0BVJynM
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That’s good news, but it does show us the mindset of Washington that they feel they can do something like this. And let us not forget that Obama has ignored court orders in the past.
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Quite frankly, we in the American south are use to intrusions by the central government into every aspect of our lives in the name of social justice or whatever the “cause of the day” ma be to tell us how stupid we are. It seems to me, that “states rights” stops somewhere north of the Mason-Dixon line. Again and again federal troops have been sent south, after the “War for Southern Independence” to impose the will of the victors. Dones, I have no use for them, but in one way or another they have been flying south for many years and I’m not surprised that objections are being raised in the North and across the nation—welcome to the real world!
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You’ve got me there Ron!
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Reblogged this on Freedom Is Just Another Word… and commented:
Ahh the comforts of America…so safe we are…From who though?
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Thanks!
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At least you have it on the front page. As I’ve postulated before though, this isn’t really for us, it’s for the “new America,” the engineered demographic shift that will be anything but America. We’re just suffering through the transition.
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I am afraid you are right, welcome to a brave new world.
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The Obama administration has not said that using these drones to kill Americans domestically won’t be considered. They already popped two overseas.
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Obama said he would abuse the power in the NDAA and he has never lied to us before, right? 😦
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Thirty thousand drones would be just about the right number to safeguard the southern border. I would have no problem with that!! Maybe even some of them up here on the northern border might be a wise investment, but I really do question the wisdom of silently sitting back and letting the government use them against us.
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Protecting the border would be one thing, but using them on Americans is another and it shows us something of the mindset in Washington that this is where their priorities are.
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Just like a transformer movie. Who would ever have thought. While everyone was preoccupied with 9/11, they’ve concentrated on this, FEMA camps, internet security, underground cities. The more propaganda they can create that the American people can believe either preoccupies them or gives them purpose to do something else. This is why Iran is on the table.
They did say they were going to take seven countries in five years… but they didn’t expect Iran would be a problem until Russia and China used the retaliation threat.
Many may disagree with me because I read foreign papers and can’t accept what’s going on, but I have more respect for Putin right now than Obama and Harper. Those two make me nervous. Not for me but for the futures of my children and grandchildren who haven’t a clue how big this is. This is taking place on MY watch. I’ve allowed this to happen without questioning it until it’s too late. Thank the good lord for the internet. We must keep it sacred or be lost forever. Only my views… nothing more.
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the FAA Reauthorization Act which included funding of a study on authorizing the use of 30,000 unmanned drones in the skies over America
Notice the wording here – the use of these drones is being studied as of Feb. 8th, 2012. I have no info as to how the study turned out or if it is finished. So, are there really 30,000 drones overhead in America?
We all know that there will be some to begin with and that the wishes of our ‘protectors’ will press for the 30,000 and even more.
The fun playing with these war toys will be a big factor in how many will be launched each day when the controller mechanism is in place.
Boy’s toys? That’s part of it I’m sure. How many of our old Nintendo fans will be at the controls of these drones buzzing around our neighborhoods? Oh, well all is fair in love and war?
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The number I heard was 20,000, and no they are not flying overhead as of yet. The plan is to have 20,000 drones in the sky by 2012 so it hasn’t been fully implemented yet but the FBI admitted today that it is indeed already starting to use drones in some cases.
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