The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. (Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution)
The Bill of Rights, the first ten Amendments to the Constitution, are the primary legal bulwarks of our personal freedoms. The Fourth Amendment of these ten is the principal obstacle to the establishemnt of a police state such as exists under totalitarian governments along the models of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.
It is therefore to the Constitution that all elected officials, military personnel and government employees take an oath of loyalty. It is not to a leader, political party or even the nation itself that the oath is directed. It is to a higher authority, the authority of the very ethical, legal and moral principles that animated the original Patriots and are expressed in our foundational charter that allegiance is sworn.
Thomas Tamm took his oath seriously. A former standout prosecutor and Young Republican County Chairman, the Justice Department Inspector with Top Secret clearance was tasked with overseeing surveillance on suspected terrorism. Upon noticing that American citizens were being spied on in direct violation of the Constitution and without recourse to the FISA Act provisions for oversight, he brought this to the attention of superiors. When told the practice was "probably illegal" and to "drop it" his conscience would not let him rest.
Unable to make any headway at Justice, he eventually went to a phone booth in a subway station and tipped the New York Times. The exposure of the Bush Administration's unconstitutional abrogation of its oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution" created a political storm. It has also cost Tamm his job and subjected him to constant harrassment and threats by the FBI. Michael Isikoff tells Tamm's story in Newsweek. You can see the article here.
Tamm may be charged with revealing state secrets. He explains himself with, "If somebody were to say, who am I to do that? I would say, 'I had taken an oath to uphold the Constitution.' It's stunning that somebody higher up the chain of command didn't speak up." Meanwhile, those at the top of that chain whose malfeasance he exposed are negotiating with publishers for seven-figure royalties for the rights to their memoirs.
Not all the heroes of freedom are in a desert toting an M-16.
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