When the president gets a death button part II

There is no joy in typing "I told ya' so" but the Pentagon admitted this week that its drones are being used to monitor Americans over U.S. soil, and that this has been going on for more than a year. It's been almost four years since the FAA approved drone flights over U.S. soil and almost five years since I

wrote about it here. The Pentagon also claims it used its drones to murder 150 people in Somalia this week. It's bad enough we're killing people overseas without any declaration of war but every American has to be alarmed at the thought that the government will soon use drones to murder us on our own soil. Sure, there will be a fine excuse to do so: "He's a terrorist!", "He stole a car!", "He had a gun!", "He bounced a check!"

If this seemed outlandish four or five years ago then you had too much faith in the benevolence of our federal government. If it still seems outlandish today then you're just not paying attention.
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Drones to drop bomb on home values?

Soon we'll have 30,000 drones flying over our homes here in America. We may not know where they are but as shown in this PBS documentary, "Rise of the Drones", they will certainly know where we are. Some local police departments are eager to get their hands on these drones to watch over their constituents, some want drones to shoot their constituents and some in the federal government are eager to provide funding to help militarize local law enforcement and put a drone on every home. In some states like Texas and cities like Seattle (page removed), officials have passed laws limiting or banning the use of these drones.

So, how much is it worth to you to live where drones are nowhere to be seen versus buzzing freely over your swimming pool and backyard barbecue, recording every move everyone ever makes - watching you to be sure you are attentively watching your children in the pool? That you're serving FDA-approved foods and drinks? With a government-certified lifeguard present? Just how much do we value privacy? We may soon find out when homebuyers are forced to weigh the pros and cons of living under drones 24/7 just as they weigh the pros and cons of the school system, commuting time and access to shopping.

I'll be curious to see how the threat of a drone strike upon one's home by Hellfire missile affects the housing price and the homeowners insurance rates. Will home destruction by presidential kill list require a rider? At what point will people sell their homes and move to states trying to be drone-free like Texas? And how much of a premium will drone-free skies command? How much of a loss will home sellers be willing to bear to get away from the constant surveilling and recording of their families' lives? And by then, will we even be allowed to move?

Anyone working in an economic development department of government at any level would be smart to work with their legislatures to pass laws banning the use of drones for any reason - and then market the hell out of their drone-free skies to attract companies and workers who understand the dangerous ramifications of a constant drone infestation. If you're not sure life will be any different once we're under 30,000 drones, just take a look at the thousands of innocent Pakistanis affected by our drone program. You'll have to do some digging - most of them are buried.
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When the President Gets a Death Button

In the Star Trek episode when Lt. Uhura dressed like Lara Croft,  Captain Kirk revealed the secret behind his rapid rise to power: with a weapon hidden in his quarters, he could press a button and kill anyone on the ship. Kirk didn’t need no stinkin’ badge, arrest warrant, judge, jury or due process of law. Just press the button and zap! Not only did it kill but it completely removed the person from existence so there were no messy remains to handle. The idea that one person in power can kill anyone at any time is so anti-American that the story was set in a parallel universe – a universe diametrically opposed to how America is supposed to operate. Maybe the weapon was initially developed as a defense against a Klingon boarding party or a Romulan spy who had infiltrated the Federation. But how quickly and easily it was turned against anyone on the ship, against anyone who might dare oppose or disagree with the leadership.

Drones currently patrol the American borders with Mexico and Canada, in addition to many foreign countries. Many government officials are pushing to monitor the entire USA 24/7. Photo courtesy Defense Industry Daily.

Now travel back in time from the 23^rd century to today. We don’t have the ability to single a person out for death at the push of a button. But we do have unmanned aerial drones. With these, our leaders feel free to kill almost anyone anywhere in the world - even American citizens – seemingly without any regard for the rule of law, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Few of us will cry over the removal of Anwar al-Awlaki but with the capability offered by these drones so comes a responsibility to prevent their reckless implementation. 

We’ve been patrolling our border with Mexico for years, just with cameras, of course, but how quickly will these drones be armed to stop the drug cartels? And surely, we’ll need to deploy them over our southern states to shoot the drug traffickers and track the movements of illegals. 

We’ve also deployed drones to patrol our border with Canada. Their range covers hundreds of miles into American territory, however, and there’s a concerted push to cover American skies (start the video at 8:00 in) with these drones. Citizens will likely think twice before peaceably assembling or occupying a city knowing the surveillance drones overhead are zooming in on their faces for automated recognition and addition to the database of dissidents, threats and enemies. Or, what if and when the drones are armed? Is our leadership really that different from that of Syria or China? We may use police batons before opening fire but American law enforcement always has live ammo at the ready for use against unruly Americans if the rubber bullets and tear gas fail to disperse a crowd.

And from the Washington Post, our newest drones will automatically hunt, target, and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans. That’s actually called a  Terminator, or Nomad for the Star Trek fans and an assassin droid for the Star Wars fans.  

We’ve seen what happens when a government takes the power to kill anyone for any reason without any serious resistance from (or with support of) its citizens. Here are a few pictures of the results. As the power to kill becomes cleaner, easier and safer to inflict, it’s even more important that we pay close attention to who our government is killing and why, and whether they have any legal right to do so. Once we allow the government to kill anyone at any time without concern for the law, then taking your house for redevelopment, taking your money to fill the budget shortfall or taking away your kids for that-time-at-the-supermarket-captured-on-video becomes easy pickins for the government and hard for anyone to fight. If the law doesn't hold up against murder it certainly won't offer any grounds to fight the IRS, OSHA or EPA let alone your local zoning board or health department. 

Look! Up in the sky - it's not a bird or a plane - and it may be coming for you and yours. 

Details about our drone wars here

Presidential candidate's take on right to assassinate Americans here - video

More in-depth on issue, including the CIA's hit list - video

UPDATE Feb. 18, 2012: Federal gov't requires FAA to open airspace to accommodate recently purchased 30,000 surveillance drones. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/226010.html (page removed)

UPDATE April 20, 2012: Drone flights approved over U.S. interior airspace. News brief here.

UPDATE March 12, 2016: Military drones now monitoring Americans over U.S. soil. Pentagon admits it here.

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