Blog Post 3

    One of the most important speech theories that I value is the Checking on Governmental Powers. Only we, the people, are the sole bulwark against any kind of tyrannous state from rising to power. It's a responsibility that was handed to us with the First Amendment and no one else. We have to have the power to elect the right officials and call them out when they do something wrong. Unfortunately, it seems this important role has gone more and more to the wayside of things. Part of this stems from a lack of universally trusted information sources. Many of the major news networks have lost credibility in the eyes of conservatives and independents (https://www.niskanencenter.org/how-mainstream-journalism-squandered-its-authority/). When half the country is skeptical of the nation's major reporting outlets, it can be difficult to enter a dialogue with your fellow Americans and address your concerns. 

    It also does not help that there is a plethora of non-credible news websites that misconstrue statements or tell blatant lies. The gradual decline of media literacy has thrown a huge wrench in the works for us policing the state. This new inability of ours has allowed branches of government to go unchecked for too long. A recent example of this would be how the government has illegally waged war. This can be found all throughout the war on terrorism. The United States Congress, unconstitutionally gave the reigns of war over to the executive branch when it should be in the legislative branch. This illegal transfer of power gives the executive branch the authority to deploy armed forces in countries that fell outside the original targeted countries. The courts also failed to reprimand the other branches for doing such a thing. This has allowed the government to run amuck in those countries and cause undue harm. In 2014, when the presidential administration reaffirmed its authority, finally it was met with outcry. The administration cited documents from 2001 and 2002 as their defense for their actions. These actions were the illegal detaining and treatment of alleged terrorist members. These types of arrests didn’t require warrants to be signed, which completely violates the Fourth Amendment. To add insult to injury, they also would not give a trial to those who were already illegally arrested, which also violates the Sixth Amendment.

    These illegal acts, committed by the federal government, went on for over a decade before there was enough of an uproar to address them. Situations like this arise when the people are disconnected from their duty of monitoring the government. Being unable to work together has allowed for a new era of corruption to infest our government and create new abuses in our system.

    There have also been other unaddressed forms of corruption, mainly insider trading. This has infested Congress to almost a comedic point. There are multiple different websites entirely dedicated to tracking the members of Congress's stock trades (https://www.barchart.com/investing-ideas/politician-insider-trading). One of the most prevalent offenders, Nancy Pelosi, has never faced any kind of real repercussions for her actions. Yet, her activities are near common knowledge in America. How have we, as citizens who can regulate the system, allowed this criminal to get away with this blatant offense.