Dear Editor:

Last Saturday, just before sunrise, I went outside to enjoy God’s show. I was almost immediately greeted with a small meteor. The skies were spectacular in their glory. For that moment it was just me and nature. But then, I sighted 18 satellites traveling from NW to the SE spaced approximately ½ a minute apart. I was dragged back to our troubled world. Ours or theirs? If “ours,” are they taking my picture or recording me? Are they watching me standing in my yard, cutting wood, or seeing too much smoke out of my chimney or too much infrared heat from my house?

Prior to the last election, liberals accepted that all their personal conversations and communications were being recorded and stored. Presumably the process is in accordance with the Constitution and the right of privacy. With a new administration in charge, are they still okay with that? How about Real ID and facial recognition? Citizens are tracked in real time when they choose to carry a smartphone. Do you want millions of cameras tracking and identifying, and recording your face? Rights surrendered are almost never returned.

Real ID is a tool every totalitarian government dreamed of. Take a picture, send them to jail, no trial or jury needed - let AI handle it. The U.S. could have easily chosen a thumb print. It is more secure, more unique, and easy to verify. Why mandate something less precise? The answer is, they want to eliminate the concept of privacy. Possibly a conservative Supreme Court could decide it is a step too far- being forced to give your image in order to travel. What about the unalienable right to life or the right to bear arms? As a septuagenarian, do I have the right to protect my life, or do I have to depend on the goodwill of the government?

It seems that conservatives and liberals disagree on many things but one thing we should all agree on is protecting our individual rights. They protect all people even when the “wrong people” are in charge.

Joe Grant

Wiscasset