Eight States and 400+ Municipalities resolve to err on the side of the U. S. Constitution

Guy T. Sturino

March 02, 2006

Thanks to Senator Russ Feingold, now we know. It isn’t just a few malcontents who find the Patriot Act to be a danger to inherent American civil liberties. Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana and Vermont legislatures have all passed what can reasonably be termed anti Patriot Act resolutions. All of these states have advised their law enforcement agencies that the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and each of their individual state constitutions take precedence in any point of conflict with the Patriot Act legislation.

Each of these states has advised their Senators and Representatives to work to eliminate those areas of conflict from the Patriot Act. Several Senators have chosen, at least up until now, to disregard that advice.

Over 400 municipalities have passed resolutions which proclaim serious concern that the Patriot Act denies individual rights and civil liberties, and urge law enforcement agencies to evaluate requests for information or action with regard to constitutional guarantees.

Senator Feingold has been trying for several weeks to introduce amendments to the Patriot Act which would bring the offending sections of the Patriot Act in line with the U.S. Constitution. Through procedural maneuvering, Senator Frist, Senate Majority Leader, has prevented Senator Feingold’s amendments from reaching the floor for a vote. This action has denied a voice not only to Senator Feingold, but to his entire Wisconsin constituency. Clearly, this is not in keeping with the intent of our Constitution in terms of how the Senate is to create law.

Yesterday, Senator Feingold read aloud the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, followed by all eight of the state resolutions and four of the more than 400 resolutions of municipalities. The question must be asked why these resolutions have not been front page news since the day they were passed. Even more important, why haven’t they been a major talking pont in open discussions in Congress and in the media?

Clearly, a large portion of American society finds many of the provisions in the Patriot Act quite un-American.

A final Senate vote is scheduled for 3pm EST today, March 2,to accept or refuse the Joint Resolution of the House and Senate which now includes a few changes which even Senator Arlen Specter, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, calls “cosmetic.”

How are the Senators from Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana and Vermont going to vote? Will these Senators follow the clearly spoken will of their constituents, or will they advance under marching orders from the White House?

Do we have a government of, by and for the people? Is the Senate part of a Check and Balance, or is the Senate a Rubber Stamp? Don’t take my word for anything. Tune in to C-Span2 this afternoon and find out for yourself.

Guy T. Sturino

My Name is Guy Sturino and I came to be in November of 1940 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. By the time I reached six years old my dad was back home and we had defeated both Germany and Japan.

The country was riding high. Sure, times were tough. Both my parents worked fairly regularly, but still we moved often and we spent a few of those early years in government project housing. TV came to our house when I was eleven.

When I was twelve I became an alter boy at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Like all alter boys, I even thought someday I'd become a Priest. By the time I finished high school that illusion was gone and with it my fondness for the Catholic church. But, that's another story all by itself.

In high school Civics class we learned that we were the greatest. We learned that Democracy meant capitalism and Communism was the same as socialism. We were taught that Democracy was good and that socialism was bad. At the same time Joe McCarthy was telling us that Communists were hiding under our beds and if the bomb didn't get us those Commies sure would.

I took all that with me when I joined the Marines in '59 when my education really got started. In Thailand I learned about Buddhism, and how people who had very little and worked from dawn to dusk every day were the happiest and most sharing as a group that I had met up until that time. In Japan I saw and lived in a culture built around working together to achieve great things as opposed to the do-it-yourself rugged individualism expected in the American culture. Along the way I got to visit the Philippines and South Korea.

When I came home in '63 I drove a bread truck for a while and then hand poured aluminum in a foundry until the GI bill was signed in '65. I got a degree in Applied Science and Technology and went to work for American Motors. After a few years as a chassis engineer I moved over to quality control and eventually traveled Europe assessing quality systems in supplier manufacturing facilities. By the time I had interacted with workers in England, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy, as well as China, South Korea and Japan, I had a totally new perspective on what was a fair return for a days work.

I worked for a couple of other companies before vacationing in Virginia Beach with my daughter and deciding that the tickets in my pocket for Riyadh and New Deli were simply too much after just returning from Beijing. I found a pizza shop for sale and bought it. Unfortunately I wasn't very successful as a restaurateur, and took a job as a substitute teacher for a year.

Undaunted, I applied for a job as a teacher assistant the next year and got it. Two years later I was teaching algebra in an alternative high school where, at 62 years old I retired.
I already had a serious interest in politics, but having the time to actually watch the House and the Senate on Cspan really got my interest. I learned things about our government that I certainly never heard about in school and I had to wonder why not. About 2005 I decided to begin sharing my thoughts on the web. By the middle of 2007 I sort of lost, not the interest, but the drive to communicate.

Recent events have changed that.

	Author's Profile
	Author's Other Articles
	Author's RSS Feed