If it wasn't bad enough that our 2nd amendment rights were under siege from a President and a federal government that our completely out of control. Yesterday we learned that our right to free speech and privacy, rights guaranteed to us in the 1st and 4th amendments, are now under assault by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI by deciding to make their legal actions and negotiations with Apple Inc., makers of the popular iPhone, public instead of private as was their right to do. They revealed to the public their attempt to force Apple to create a backdoor in their cellphone security encryption that would enable the FBI to listen, track, record, and spy on all American citizens through their iPhones without a warrant, all in the name of national security.
This suggests that not only does the government want to bring George Orwell's monstrous fantasy world detailed in his book 1984 to life, but because Apple Inc. refused to cooperate the potential legal battle that could ensue may act as a test drive for the FBI in how to garner support from the American public and legally win such cases. In order to force other companies such as Alphabet Inc., creators of most in use cellphone operating system in the United States, Android, to create an unlimited backdoor for the FBI and other government security agencies to spy on all Americans.
This raises the fundamental question, did Apple Inc. make the right decision by denying a backdoor to the FBI?
With radical Islamic terrorism affecting our nations safety and domestic tranquility especially after the tragic incident in San Bernardino, and with an unsecured southern border being penetrated by violent drug cartel members and various other criminals, many will certainly argue that Apple did not do its part to keep the nation safe. With many more who will argue, such as current Republican Presidential candidate Marco Rubio, that although Apple may have been standing up for American citizens constitutional rights, we live in a different time in which the antiquated rights of the constitution need to be bent a little to ensure the public safety. Denying the advice given to us by Benjamin Franklin, that any nation who would sacrifice liberty for security shall deserve neither and be denied both.
Yet, is it even true that our nation has never faced a security crisis such as radical Islamic terrorism, so that while the first and fourth amendments may have worked in the past, certainly without some reworking they no longer function adequately today? The answer is no.
In fact, it wasn't too long ago that we had Soviet spies and communist revolutionaries such as the Weather Underground running wild throughout America, wreaking havoc and attempting to overthrow our government. Not to mention that during World War I and World War II we had various German spies working inside the United States threatening our national security, even attempting to blow up the Statue of Liberty. Not to mention that the southern border has always been open and unsecured, allowing drug cartel members and other violent criminals to pour across it.
Yet, despite the clear security threat both to our nation's government and to our fellow citizens by these various organizations and individuals throughout the entirety of the 20th century, the FBI and other government security agencies while obtaining warrants and faithfully adhering to the rights provided to the American people in articles 1 and 4 of the constitution. They were able to effectively foil many of the violent plans that many of the criminals they were also able to track down and subdue wished to commit. Many of which would have done just as much damage to the American psyche and spilled just as much innocent blood as the shootings in San Bernardino.
So was Apple Inc. right to deny the FBI an unlimited backdoor to spy on all Americans? Absolutely they were. In fact, as someone who is not an Apple fan but is need of a new cellphone, this decision actually makes me want to become the proud new owner of an Apple iPhone. Since the FBI should continue to adhere to the Constitution and operate as they always have, by obtaining warrants and effectively foiling the plots of and subduing those currently in our country that would seek to do our fellow citizens or our nation violent harm.
As far as what might happen between Apple Inc. and the FBI, let's just hope that this is the end of it, and that even if the FBI does take legal action against Apple, the American people and the Supreme Court will defend every American's right to free speech and privacy guaranteed to us by the Constitution. Ensuring that we remain, both the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Think Aboot It.
The FBI by deciding to make their legal actions and negotiations with Apple Inc., makers of the popular iPhone, public instead of private as was their right to do. They revealed to the public their attempt to force Apple to create a backdoor in their cellphone security encryption that would enable the FBI to listen, track, record, and spy on all American citizens through their iPhones without a warrant, all in the name of national security.
This suggests that not only does the government want to bring George Orwell's monstrous fantasy world detailed in his book 1984 to life, but because Apple Inc. refused to cooperate the potential legal battle that could ensue may act as a test drive for the FBI in how to garner support from the American public and legally win such cases. In order to force other companies such as Alphabet Inc., creators of most in use cellphone operating system in the United States, Android, to create an unlimited backdoor for the FBI and other government security agencies to spy on all Americans.
This raises the fundamental question, did Apple Inc. make the right decision by denying a backdoor to the FBI?
With radical Islamic terrorism affecting our nations safety and domestic tranquility especially after the tragic incident in San Bernardino, and with an unsecured southern border being penetrated by violent drug cartel members and various other criminals, many will certainly argue that Apple did not do its part to keep the nation safe. With many more who will argue, such as current Republican Presidential candidate Marco Rubio, that although Apple may have been standing up for American citizens constitutional rights, we live in a different time in which the antiquated rights of the constitution need to be bent a little to ensure the public safety. Denying the advice given to us by Benjamin Franklin, that any nation who would sacrifice liberty for security shall deserve neither and be denied both.
Yet, is it even true that our nation has never faced a security crisis such as radical Islamic terrorism, so that while the first and fourth amendments may have worked in the past, certainly without some reworking they no longer function adequately today? The answer is no.
In fact, it wasn't too long ago that we had Soviet spies and communist revolutionaries such as the Weather Underground running wild throughout America, wreaking havoc and attempting to overthrow our government. Not to mention that during World War I and World War II we had various German spies working inside the United States threatening our national security, even attempting to blow up the Statue of Liberty. Not to mention that the southern border has always been open and unsecured, allowing drug cartel members and other violent criminals to pour across it.
Yet, despite the clear security threat both to our nation's government and to our fellow citizens by these various organizations and individuals throughout the entirety of the 20th century, the FBI and other government security agencies while obtaining warrants and faithfully adhering to the rights provided to the American people in articles 1 and 4 of the constitution. They were able to effectively foil many of the violent plans that many of the criminals they were also able to track down and subdue wished to commit. Many of which would have done just as much damage to the American psyche and spilled just as much innocent blood as the shootings in San Bernardino.
So was Apple Inc. right to deny the FBI an unlimited backdoor to spy on all Americans? Absolutely they were. In fact, as someone who is not an Apple fan but is need of a new cellphone, this decision actually makes me want to become the proud new owner of an Apple iPhone. Since the FBI should continue to adhere to the Constitution and operate as they always have, by obtaining warrants and effectively foiling the plots of and subduing those currently in our country that would seek to do our fellow citizens or our nation violent harm.
As far as what might happen between Apple Inc. and the FBI, let's just hope that this is the end of it, and that even if the FBI does take legal action against Apple, the American people and the Supreme Court will defend every American's right to free speech and privacy guaranteed to us by the Constitution. Ensuring that we remain, both the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Think Aboot It.
