“The right to privacy is one of the most cherished rights an American citizen has; the right to privacy sets America apart from totalitarian states in which the interests of the state prevail over individual rights. A fundamental part of our concept of ordered liberty is the right to protect one’s home and family against dangerous intrusions subject to the criminal law.”

ABSOLUTELY, TRUE AND CORRECT ! ! ! Now a distant fairy tale with no semblance to, or in the occupying totalitarian statist theocracy that is infesting this land. An occasional stari decisis that actually expounds the founders original intent and Constitutional safeguards of the laws of nature and of nature's God would be nice.

I was waiting for them to count how many times we flushed the toilet, with the installation, of the new electric meters, they now know what you turn on and when. Maddness, that must be stopped. Privacy is a basic American RIGHT, and should be taken very seriously.

Not so great quotes! The key here is "ordered liberty". Order among people means laws and a certain giving up of the concept of individuality for the concept of commonality. Taking these quotes at face value (which I am sure Mike does) would totally negate the idea of property taxes and any other taxes.I do agree that the power to tax can entail the power to destroy, but a balance between individuality and commonality is at the root of most public policy discussions.

Balance is what is lacking. The corruption that is rampant in our government unbalances the principles of our Constitution, and gives people like Waffler a belief that ordered liberty means compromise. On the contrary, our Constitution does not make our leaders into rulers. If we must be taxed, we should be honored for our decisions of how much and when. In reality, once we give elected officials the power to tax, they use it as carte blanche to rule. Balance goes out the window.

Waffler, I not only take these quotes at face value, I also take them as literal expressions of eternal law. Your comment is a very close paraphrase to what Hitler said and is the foundational premise for both communism and fascism (which is diametrically opposed to "ordered liberty" - "ordered liberty" is the structural protection of individual inalienable rights). You back your Hitleresk statement up by indicating property taxes are a good thing. You are at least consistent in your fascist dogma. When an hegemony, in toto aloof from We The People, maintains a claimed allodial ownership of everything (ability to tax property for example), the noble human (King of the Universe's progeny) is reduced to chattel with the limited ability to hold mere title by a slave master's capricious desire. You've never answered the question, where or what is the lawful nexus or, operation of law, that has de jure ability to usurp inalienable right from the individual as endowed by our Creator and transfer it to an intangible concept (totalitarian government)? Try to refrain from alluding to the many have more rights than the individual or power makes right. The many have the same rights as the individual, there are just a multitude of individuals that make up the many. Also, if you attempt a communal answer, please provide the magical number where inalienable, unalienable, or endowed by their Creator no longer applies.

Literally everything we do can be tracked or surveilled. Nothing is sacred, not our homes, not our vehicles, not our persons...nothing! And there are those who think they are "free". Amazing. Well said Mike in Norwalk.

The last sentence in Wafflers note sounds like he advocates some sort of balance between freedom and Socialism. Isn't that like a woman being just a little bit pregnant.

Because of contraband laws, the 'justice' system has been turned inside out -- we are now ALL suspects of committing some crime -- what crime they do not know, so the 'authorities' have given themselves power to tag us and track us at all times without warrant. The whole idea of 'pre-emptive' action against anyone and everyone for anything and everything is prime example. Funny thing, though, that the government, police and military are beyond reproach even though they are as much prone to theft and murder as the common man -- actually more so. I say micro chip all the politicians first and publish their whereabouts on the internet at all times -- every new surveillance law should be done to them, not us. If they don't like it, get out of 'public' office. Privacy belongs to the people, not those entrusted with public responsibilities.