Dear Donald Trump,
I voted for Ted Cruz in the beginning and have since switched to you by default. I feel as though you are better than Hillary Clinton and our current best choice to beat her in the presidential race this November. While you are clearly the “better choice” you have a lot to learn about liberty, what it means to be a free people, and what the Constitution says about due process.
Keep in mind that I'm far from an expert, but I keep a few things on my desk at all times: A Bible, a copy of the Constitution/Declaration, dictionary, thesaurus, and a loaded gun.
Your statements about the no fly list are bothersome. The current problem, is that once you're on the list, there is no easy way of getting off. Plenty of people have accidentally ended up on it, and were consequently unable to remove themselves.
I understand that you said at the first presidential debate that, once someone is on that list, falsely, they should be able to remove themselves from it. That there needs to be due process.
I appreciate your point on that, and standing apart from Hillary by making that point. However …
Mr. Trump, the problem is that it is a clear violation of our Constitution. There does need to be due process. The trick, though, is that the due process needs to come before a person is entered onto the no-fly, no-buy list and not removed after the fact.
Anything less than that is a direct violation of multiple amendments to the law of the land. I encourage you, and anyone reading this, to look at the 2nd, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
Amendment 14 reads:
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
In other words, the due process part needs to happen before rights and privileges are taken away.
There are many people put on the list falsely, and they try to get off. The only problem, is that not all of us are billionaires who can afford $50,000+ in court fees to just try and get our names off the list to get our rights back. Let that sink in sir. That is to get their rights back, after they've been wrongly taken away. Why should people go bankrupt trying to get something back that should never have been taken away to begin with? I know that, personally speaking, I cannot afford the court fees.
If it ever came to it, and I had to choose between feeding my family or spend copious amounts of money on trying to get back my rights, my kid's hungry little bellies would likely have to win unless I can find a good lawyer to help me out, free of charge. Even then, there are other fees involved.
Having said all of that, what many people don't realize is that this is another form of gun-control. Obviously, nobody wants terrorists to have guns or bomb-making equipment. But, if the folks in charge went about protecting our interests the way they should be, we wouldn't be this far up the creek.
Who decides who goes on this list? It would be a governmental organization. How do they decide? I'm a freedom-loving patriot. I own guns and am willing to fight for freedom. Would that make me a terrorist? I suspect that it would, to at least some people even though I'm a United States armed forces veteran, willing to lay my life down for the freedom of the American people.
Instead of a secretive no-fly, no-buy list—current laws should be followed to a “T.” If someone is a suspected terrorist, they need to be dealt with in a court of law with actual evidence to convict. If substantial evidence does exist, then they go to jail. If someone is convicted of terrorism, they'll be unable to buy a gun.
It really is that simple. Sir, I'm asking you to rescind your position on this, and come up with actual legal ways to fight terrorism without violating the rights of American citizens.
