by Ronald Gibson

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: April 12, 2012

The Guantamo Bay Detention camp has been a stain on the reputation of this country. It is a place where Americans ignored the fundamental beliefs about humanity on which this nation was founded. Examples being "innocent until proven guilty", and "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." These prisoners have been political pawns of an administration that wanted to be seen to be tough on terror. Which essentially means that people only have the rights that the government chooses not to ignore and we shall all be safer that way because they are doing this to protect us.

We have been told they take rights away from us in order to take them away from the terrorists. Closing Guantanamo Bay is a symbol of changing those policies. That camp may have struck fear in the hearts of terrorists, but it also struck fear in the hearts of freedom-loving Americans who understood the threat of a virtual concentration camp where anyone could be placed by being labeled a terrorist suspect. The Nazi concentration camps were designed to strike fear in all the enemies of the Nazis. Including German citizens who did not agree with the way Hitler was running their country.

Guantanamo Bay was a dangerous step towards the same ideology. I am somewhat concerned that President Obama may have done this to appease potential freedom fighters who may have started the second American Revolution if he didn't give them some sign that he would reverse the destructive policy's of past administrations. The closing of this camp is one of the things they have been clamoring for.

I would like to hope that it truly is the first step towards a return to Constitutional freedom-based principles, but I don't really sense that from this man based on what I heard in the Democratic Primary debates and I just can't quite trust that he really means to be that way. I know that Ron Paul would have been that kind of President and we'd have been a lot better off with him, but we'll have to make do with what we have and hope they don't take too much away from us before we decide that we won't take it anymore.

People should not be afraid of their government. The government should be afraid of their people. They are afraid of us and that is why they try to disarm us, listen to our conversations, and put cameras all over our communities that they can access. You thought speed cameras were there to stop speeders and make the road safer? Think again. They are there to make sure the government can trace where you go and when, anytime they see a reason to.

Terrorism against civilians is actually good for a government that wants more control over the people. When the people are afraid of outside dangers they ask their government to protect them and offer whatever they have to give up in order to be made safe. It's human nature and government leaders have been taking advantage of that since the first crooked politician, or bully, told his people that he'd protect them from danger if they did everything he said. Still, regardless of how I feel about his motives, I am relieved to see it closed.

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