Give Me Liberty or Give Me… Distractions

To the Editor

Last week, Congress passed bill HR658, requiring the FAA to streamline the licensing process for the domestic use of unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. The bill now sits at the desk of President Obama, awaiting his expected approval. Touted as an increase in FAA efficiency and a guardian of homeland security, the only efficiency this bill is sure to bring is in the destruction of our civil liberties. The only thing it stands to guard is our place in history as the era it all went wrong.

Acting in the true spirit of 21st century America, this bill has been fast-tracked through Congress with little attention given to the issues at hand. It is only logical to implement a program full-scale when the constitutional validity of its current marginal application is under contention, right? If you got all worked up when Facebook and Wikipedia told you your rights to use the Internet were being threatened with SOPA and PIPA, you should be researching how to make Molotov cocktails and rallying your peers to join your revolution in response to HR 658. Maybe the United States needs to take a few lessons from Greece and turn off the distractions, turn on our minds, and quit passively observing as our government systemically bounds our freedoms and our lives.

-Ryan Sullivan
Moorhead, MN