Some of you may have noticed the new image I have added to the left-hand column of my website as well as below. It reads “I do solemnly swear to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States to ensure that the country protects the right of all. – Signed Bradford Benn” (You can create your own image at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Take the #PeoplesOath webpage.
Seems an odd thing to put on a website at times. It is important to indicate that I believe in the importance of the US Constitution. I believe it is important that all people have the same rights. Not just donors or members of the political elite or celebrities, everyone. I can go into all the reasons that I feel that this stance is necessary. It doesn’t matter why I feel this way, I do believe that it is important to protect everyone. As news is coming in about various changes in openness in information as well as accuracy, I think it is important to do something about it. The approach of removing data is preventing people from having the right to make up their own mind. If one’s personal opinion does not agree with the datum currently available, it does not mean censoring or removing the data.
While we may not all agree on everything, I want to believe that the majority of us will believe in treating people equally. That information is available to everyone especially if it uses public funding. That science is factual. That privacy is a right. The preamble to the US Constitution is an important guidepost often overlooked.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
People appointed to national leadership positions must be knowledgeable about their role. Disagreeing with science while allowed, does not allow for the deletion or removal of information that disproves your stance; especially if you are a public servant. The story Scientists Racing to Archive Climate Data Before Denier-in-Chief Trump Takes Office provides an example.
Illegal surveillance is illegal.
I can go on, but the important thing is to know that the rights of all need protection. As the administration of the 45th President of the United States trundles forward I will probably be posting more of my views; I think that this post is a good start. All of us need to do what we think is right and important.
Bradford Benn
January 24, 2017