Americans Have a Duty to Revolt

Note from poster Roger F. Gay: In my view, Judge Andrew Napolitano presents solid arguments that are much more important in American politics today than the budget. (I take it you all know that the budget debate is extremely important.) I am disappointed however, that he seems to hang so much of the cause of the downfall of Constitutional rule on the Patriot Act and George W. Bush. By the time the Patriot Act was signed, the rights it ignored had already been abandoned by bipartisan acts in Congress that were confirmed by federal courts. Mechanisms were in already place to track intimate details of the lives of everyone in the US. More than $10 billion had already been spent developing and operating a national computer system for doing that, and every employer, business and institution was required to connect their computer systems to it and provide information. Mass round-ups of American citizens were being conducted by multiple police agencies using mass warrants based on long lists prepared by bureaucrats. Homes were already being invaded, property confiscated arbitrarily, people arrested and jailed and held indefinitely without trial; without any evidence that they had committed a crime. It had nothing to do with 9/11 or the War on Terrorism and the problem will not go away if the Patriot Act is overturned or expires. (See Taken Into Custody, by Stephen Baskerville.) Discussing the actual history would involve issues that are less popular with the mainstream media than opposition to the Patriot Act. I suggest the following videos as part of familiarizing yourself with Judge Napolitano's argument. I suggest not skipping the Q&A either.