This Is Not About “Compromise”
On Fox this morning they ran a segment on Flock and similar license-plate tracking devices. The Flock representative said “When people talk about just one of these things, privacy or safety, they’re prioritizing the wrong thing,” Langley told Fox News. “What we have to prioritize as a country is compromise.”
Not to me.
We the People, Not a Searchable Map
This is about We the People and our rights as citizens. The Constitution is not something we “meet in the middle” on so a private company can build a searchable map of where Americans go for government to use.
Keep the Pressure On
When these devices are suspended or contracts are canceled, keep the pressure on. If we let up, we are not compromising for safety. That is how they move the Overton window, inch by inch, until they have our freedom and our liberty.
Pinal County Got It Right
Pinal County already walked away over serious Fourth Amendment concerns. So have communities across the country. That instinct is right, and it is bipartisan. Stay consistent. Do not let government normalize warrantless mass tracking of law-abiding Americans.
Franklin’s Warning Still Applies
Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” The full line matters. Essential liberty. A little temporary safety.
Family First, Not the Surveillance State
I learned that in a personal way in 2016 when my father passed away after trying to call 911 for help in a health emergency. When construction next door cut my father’s phone line days before, the phone company (who was notified at the time) and more than one lawyer after losing my father, told my siblings and me the same thing. If we loved him, it was our duty to be there or move him. Not the government’s job. and not the company’s job. It’s Ours.
I accepted that. Family first. Personal responsibility first. What I will not accept is the reverse: surrendering essential liberty so a company or government can claim they are keeping us safe. That is trading the Constitution for a product.
These Cameras Do Not Stop Crime
A sheriff recently said what many of us already know. These devices do not stop a crime before it happens. They do not stop someone with dementia from leaving home. They do not stop a child from running away. They record movement after the fact. They do not replace family, neighbors, or real policing.
