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Title: The patriot Act is Being Used Against Us
Source:
Kos
URL Source: [None]
Published: Apr 10, 2007
Author: Some Kossack
Post Date: 2007-04-10 12:53:08 by bluedogtxn
Keywords: None
Views: 353
Comments: 28
The Patriot Act Is Being Used Against Us by Maccabee [Subscribe] Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 06:40:45 AM PDT Is there anyone wondering really why the Patriot Act was passed? Was it to protect us or to go after Bush¹s political enemies? That's why they avoid Congressional oversight in promoting Judiciary. That's why the 108th and 109th Congress hid provisions in the bill and presented it at the last possible second- provisions that would enable quick decisions in case a bomb went off in St Louis...or someone decided to investigate the misdeeds of a key Republican. That's why they don¹t want the Bill of Rights or the Constitution to get in the way of the capture and detention and torture of detainees. They want absolute power. This was a Junta, a Putsch, a coup. Call it what you will, but it is the creeping fascism that overtook Argentina, and poisoned Germany and Italy and Spain in the last century. This wasn’t Germany 1938. It was Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The only exception being that the victims didn’t wake up stupid. That¹s why the Republicans slipped a clause into the bill that says the president can hire or fire US attorneys without Congressional approval. That¹s why a professor who speaks out against Bush is put on a no-fly list. Maccabee's diary :: :: That's why they strong armed phone companies into releasing citizens phone records. It’s why Bush has his own Blackwater SS/Skeletor. That's why Bush spends millions of taxpayer's dollars on propaganda scaring us about terrorists and smearing their enemies. That's why they can stop you and go into your home and car and find something to convict you with. That's why you have to take an oath to Bush before becoming a park ranger. This administration has always been about the power to stop political opponents, not terrorists. It has always been about the power to force its extreme right wing morality on you, not terrorism. Before Bush, when was there ever a President who had people forbidden to show their placards at roadside? Before Bush when were people thrown out of meetings because they wore an offensive t-shirt? Come on. Who are they kidding? Yellowstone National Park has printed material questioning Evolution. The Government officially claims that AIDs can be contracted from tears band sweat. You cannot hear a comedian who cusses at any prime time because the feds bleep it out. But you can hear Ann Coulter spew her racist bigoted garbage without filter at any hour of the day or night. THAT²S WHAT THE BUSHIES WANT. They want you to hear Ann Coulter and turn away when Janet Jackson¹s tits are showing. News organizations can and do tell outright lies without any accountability. The Feds knocked down fair use and planted operatives into the FCC. This takeover and reconfiguration of the machinery of government is why we are having pets poisoned and people made ill with E. Coli. The government wants the government to fail. They cut down the number of inspectors in the FDA from 500 to about 50. So there are not so many regulators threatening to cost businesses money. That's why FEMA sucks- they and the FDA and the EPA have been defunded and packed with political operatives. That's why there is no federal money to educate against unwanted pregnancies. No, instead we get our tax dollars spent on propaganda and lies and who cares if it doesn't work? That’s why they have 1000 so called independent researchers all on the take out of your pockets a stipend to provide the "intellectual" underpinnings of why global warming is a hoax and that people and dinosaurs co-existed for centuries. There are people out there taking money to sell whatever inanity they want and our ratings addicted sheep like mainstream news thinks balance means an obligation to give a voice to the ramblings of unscientific wild eyed anti science enthusiasts. This has been a carefully planned take over. They had their peole ready to go rewrite he intricate mutually agreed upon practises that protect Americans from corporate mischeif, and they did it all in private. That's why John Bolten had to run inside in Palm Beach County and stop the vote. Everything relied on this. This was a secret invasion. The 150 Christian University students with jobs in the administration despite their standing at the bottom of the legal school ladder, the partisan pollution of NPR, the decastration of the American Bar Association, the wholesale smearing of US heroes and veterans who were to be found on the wrong side of the Bush Administrations talking points, the fact that no one in the pentagon defended them, the Christianist movement that takes over the Air Force Academy, the stopped recounts, all of it was a massive right wing take over. The Constitution means nothing to these people. In fact, the Patriot Act is the architecture of the Bush Reich. It is the un-Bill of Rights. All that’s left remind Bill Maher is You can carry a gun and the British can’t make you house soldiers to sleep whilst on patrol. That is what they want, a scared twilight zone town of people who’s fear makes them go crazy and kill each other and lock each other out of their bunkers. This is the Hobbesian world of the neo-cons who now score a commanding "F" in American Foreign Policy, and it is their sin, not the sin of Paul Bremer and Donald Rumsfeld, although even by Bushian standards they were egregiously stupid and ineffectual. It is the ideology of the right wing in general that rules while our economy falls behind the EU as the number one economy. Its is the policies of the right wing result in the Dollar falling behind the Euro as the number one currency in the world. It is the policies of the right wing that leaves one sixth of the population of the country not covered by health insurance, and one quarter just one medical emergency away from bankruptcy and thanks to the right wing that won’t help them either. It is the policies of the right wing that result in spending 43% of the Gross Domestic Product on weapons and STILL not be able to armor or train everyone before they are put into combat. It is the policies of the right wing that result in missiles that can find cities our kids have never heard of. It is the policies of the right wing that gives us smart bombs and uneducated kids. It is the policies of the right wing that leave the Gulf Coast in shambles and veterans impoverished and allows bigotry to be legislated. The Patriot Act was meant to give Bushies the power to shut you and me up. And it is not just me who should be scared. Every freeper should be scared too. It is the policies of the right wing that leaves hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced and yet calls this a liberation. It is the policies of the right wing that have left us weaker and unloved for the first time in decades. It is the policies of the right wing that take loyal patriots, put them in harms way and then make him beg for his medicine they are hurt. It is the policies of the right wing that creates millions of impoverished Americans and thousands more millionaires at the same time and calls this Christian. It is the policies of the right wing that give public lands to a few billionaires and lets polluters off the hook. The Patriot Act was meant to pave the way for this fascism. It is the coup de grace of the neo cons. It is a way to roll back the protections that now only exist with the help of slim Democratic investigative powers and Congressional Committee appointments. It is corporatism. Ayn Randism. It is not coming. It is here. It came here in 2000. It is the Hell we all hoped to avoid. The backers of this administration must know that all these powers can be used against them on January 9th 2009 if they are not repealed. Every Young Republican can be put on a no fly list. Bush and Cheney could be arrested and tried in a secret military court for war crimes. They were stupid about this, not seeing that eventually people would catch on. In the age of the Internet, Karl will need more than his vaunted Math. Bush must be repudiated. His policies must end up in the dust bin of history. Or if I may paraphrase one of his propagandist speech writers- pre-emptive war, detaining without representation- torure- "will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies." Nora Ephorn on Huffington Post has a column up that says it beautifully: Guantanamo Prison is now more than five years old, five years of our holding and torturing prisoners without bail and without the rights of habeus corpus. Of the 385 men detained at Guantanamo, only ten have been charged. How is this possible? In the United States of America? You can blame Bush/Cheney if you want; you can blame our justice system, which moves sluggishly through the Guantanamo cases, deferring to the legislative branch, which then does nothing. But what about us? What are we doing about Guantanamo? Nothing. And why not? It's simple. We're too busy. What the hell ARE we doing? How long before we end up in a prison? Or can't get a boarding pass? Or not be allowed to vote? Or give a speech? Or post a highly charged diary? The Patriot Act doesn't exist to protect us. It is here to contain us.
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#1. To: bluedogtxn (#0)
(Edited)
I'm SHOCKED! Shocked I say! I just hope these same folks feel the same way when the DP takes control and they start using the PA against THEIR political enemies. The PA cannot be trusted to be used properly regardless of who is in power. It's too much of a temptation. It should be repealed.
Agree 100%. I also suspect that Hillary is just salivating at the opportunity to use the Patriot Act in just such fashion.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Don't you know it! By the way, have you read anywhere that the DP Congress is looking to repeal the PA? I haven't, but maybe I've missed it. They were SOOoo concerned about it when they were in the minority, I just assumed it would be one of the first things they did when they became the majority party.
I think there's some sort of "restore the constitution" act floating around that repeals some of the more odious provisions of the Patriot Act, but full- scale repeal? I haven't heard of it. Which is really too bad. Fascism seems to creep up on us in waves, and each time a little further up the beach. This country is in sad, sad shape.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Well I guess something is better than nothing. Which is really too bad. Fascism seems to creep up on us in waves, and each time a little further up the beach. This country is in sad, sad shape. I agree, it is too bad. The American people are like frogs put in a pan of cold water over a flame, and the two parties are the flame. They pass a few laws and let us used to them, then pass a few more. They will continue this until we are all slaves to the government and not even know it. Some would say we already are.
We're just about there. When they make it illegal to leave the country without permission, then it will be too la... Oh yeah. They already have, haven't they.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Oh yeah. They already have, haven't they. I've been reading a lot of articles from different areas about how the governmet should repeal the second amendment because it's not needed anymore. When that happens we will be there.
Nonsense. The Iraqis under Saddam were well-armed, too. Freedom to own weapons isn't freedom. It's a comfortable prop to the staged illusion of freedom. When you work half the year for someone else (your government, through taxes), and then you get to work the rest of the year for yourself, you are nothing but the King's sharecropper. Whether he lets you have a bow and arrow and seasonal permission to hunt on his game reserve is irrelevant.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
I renewed my Irish passport last year. I believe that, if I have to, I can drive or take the train to Canada or Mexico, and fly to Europe using my Irish passport.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
Good point
If democracy survives this assault in this country, the PATRIOT Act will soon be as notorious as the Alien and Sedition Acts.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
Seems to be a pretty big "if" there.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Seeing as the Patriot Act was written largely during the Clinton Administration, I don't know how anyone can take these sorts of articles seriously.
I don't think Clinton has many defenders here. "Clinton did it" isn't much of a defense of Bush. But I would like to see the claim documented that the bulk of the PATRIOT Act was written under Clinton. I've seen it alleged, but I haven't seen it documented. I particularly wonder whether it is true of the most controversial parts of the act.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
The Patriot Act is today's Alien and Sedition Act, and equally reprehensible. It was ready to be pushed when the 9-11 attacks purposefully reshaped American perspectives. The CIA doesn't believe in coincidences, and neither do I.
It was ready to be pushed when the 9-11 attacks purposefully reshaped American perspectives. The CIA doesn't believe in coincidences, and neither do I. Neither do I. 9-11 was our generation's Pearl Harbor, minus the Japs.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Well said. More like the Boston Tea Party and those "Indians" who pulled it off.
Speaking of what was already written and ready to be put in action upon 9/11, I think that is also true of the still-classified Memorandum of Notification to the CIA authorizing torture that Bush signed on Sept. 17, 2001. That was allegedly drafted for him by the CIA. It was almost certainly all ready to go before the event, and I suspect a lot of the drafting was done by Cofer Black.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
Hardly a defense of Bush, just casting a suspicious eye at those who would blame the party in power as if the steady erosion of civil liberties and the on-set of a police state hasn't been going on for years. All start with a Village Voice article from 2003, and this one looks pretty comprehensiveas well. Deeper study of the 1996 Anti-Terror bill would be the key. Scroll to 'terrorism'. This link has some good stuff on the wiretap stuff in the 1995 anti-terrorism bill. Chuck Shumer, April 1996: Mr. Speaker, if we want to know why people are sick and fed up with Congress, look at this debate. On Sunday the President asked and all the law enforcement people asked for two things, the top two things they needed to fight terrorism. One, taggants. Identifiers in explosives, particularly black power and smokeless; and two, multipoint wiretaps. Neither are in this bill. Neither are in this bill because the NRA did not want it. Neither are in this bill because forces on the extreme dictated what the Republican Party was going to put forward. This bill is a sham. It does a few good things, but it does not give law enforcement what they want, plain and simple. We all know that. Ah, I can almost recall when the Republicans were the good guys LOL...
What's needed is a comparison of the provisions in those '95 and '96 bills with the provisions of the original PATRIOT Act and of the reauthorized PATRIOT Act. Does that exist anywhere?
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
By the way, I was against those '95 and '96 bills at the time. As I suspect almost all -- if not entirely all -- posters here were as well. And, even if the Democrats' current opposition to the PATRIOT Act is entirely cynical, I think it remains significant that that is their position now.
To reason, indeed, he was not in the habit of attending. His mode of arguing, if it is to be so called, was one not uncommon among dull and stubborn persons, who are accustomed to be surrounded by their inferiors. He asserted a proposition; and, as often as wiser people ventured respectfully to show that it was erroneous, he asserted it again, in exactly the same words, and conceived that, by doing so, he at once disposed of all objections. - Macaulay, "History of England," Vol. 1, Chapter 6, on James II.
Sounds like a good project...sometimes I wish I was still in college. But that is a limited study. You would need to look at the provisions in the bill that perhaps did not make it out of committee in order to fully appreciate that the Patriot Act completed a legislative project that began in the mid-90s after a couple of bad FBI/ATF screw-ups (Ruby Ridge, Waco, and the sting gone wrong, OKC).
The final straw for me was how the Republicans lined up (save Barr and Armey who I always liked as far as I liked Republicans--they promptly were redistrected out of seats or retired) to support the Patriot Act, which I knew they had largely been against a few years earlier from earlier battles. The real kicker in truth was the Republicans had done great reports in the late 90s on the KLA/Osama links and Clinton's Yugoslavian campaign that essentially provided air cover for AQ. The fact that they went quiet and Clinton signed on for the Iraq campaign was just all too obvious what was going on. I completely agree as to your second point, but I think the agenda of the author of this article is a little to obvious. They are all bad folks.
The reason why it will remain in place, and will likely grow in scope, adding major gun control provisions, is because there will be a woman president, and in that event, the inherent danger that some jackass will try to do something stupid. Which of course means mass punishment for the rest of the people of this country. It's funny. Every goddamned time a politician meets a bad end, they not only punish the assassin, provided they actually live past the first perp walk, they take our right to bear arms and gut it. This isn't big brother, This is the fucking Nanny State. WAIT... I TAKE IT BACK. This isn't the NANNY STATE, THIS IS THE MICRO-MANAGING DOTING MOTHER STATE. THE NANNY STATE IS WHERE YOUR NEEDS ARE TAKEN CARE OF, THE MICRO MANAGING MOTHER STATE, IS WHERE YOU CAN'T TAKE A PISS WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION, OR HAVE TO GET A PERMISSION SLIP, IN TRIPLICATE, ALONG WITH VARIOUS METERS TO MEASURE HOW MUCH PISS YOU PISSED, AND HOW MUCH WATER YOU USED TO FLUSH IT!!!!!! THAT, is what this country is becoming, and I am sick and tired of it. We don't have politicians, we have CONTROL FREAKS THAT RUN THIS COUNTRY.
Dying for old bastards, and their old money, isn't my idea of freedom.
I don't think it matters to the shadow government which party or president is in power, they always have a way of pushing their agenda. They want to militarize police, make prisons a major business, and herd the population like cattle. In the Clinton administration, we were told it was "homegrown, rightwing terrorists." It was no coincidence the disaster at Waco was purposely provoked in the opening days of the new Clinton administration. It was a move to make the ATF more of a military organization, and to make such quasi military efforts more acceptable. Waco and OKC were both used to herd the public and government towards more controls, more state control of all things. And, of course, the 1993 WTC was used likewise. With Bush, the secret government that runs our foreign policy hit the mother lode. They got it all in one fell swoop.
Freedom to own weapons isn't freedom. It's a comfortable prop to the staged illusion of freedom. What was there to rebel against? Iraq was one of the more progressive nations in the ME, was a haven for Arabs sick of living in religious theocracies, and was just getting back on its feet when we came in and "liberated" them all one bomb at a time. Iraq is turning into the perfect ad campaign for being heavily armed. The quisling Iraqi goverment doesn't cower in fear behind the concrete walls of the green zone because they fear catching cold. They're afraid of catching a bullet. I just wish Americans had half the guts the Iraqies and Afghans have.
"The more I see of life, the less I fear death" - Me.
Me, too. What a pathetic people we've become.
It is not a Justice System. It is just a system.
Very nice article. I especially like the associating of Ayn Rand with an "ism" since Rand seems to be the witch doctor of CorporoFacsism and the author of at least one of the CorporoFascist "bibles." "There is no 'legitimate' Corporation by virtue of it's very legal definition and purpose."
Law Enforcement Against ProhibitionThe patriot Act is Being Used Against Us
#2. To: Hayek Fan (#1)
I just hope these same folks feel the same way when the DP takes control and they start using the PA against THEIR political enemies. The PA cannot be trusted to be used properly regardless of who is in power. It's too much of a temptation. It should be repealed.
#3. To: bluedogtxn (#2)
I also suspect that Hillary is just salivating at the opportunity to use the Patriot Act in just such fashion.
#4. To: Hayek Fan (#3)
Don't you know it! By the way, have you read anywhere that the DP Congress is looking to repeal the PA? I haven't, but maybe I've missed it. They were SOOoo concerned about it when they were in the minority, I just assumed it would be one of the first things they did when they became the majority party.
#5. To: bluedogtxn (#4)
think there's some sort of "restore the constitution" act floating around that repeals some of the more odious provisions of the Patriot Act, but full- scale repeal? I haven't heard of it.
#6. To: Hayek Fan (#5)
They will continue this until we are all slaves to the government and not even know it. Some would say we already are.
#7. To: bluedogtxn (#6)
We're just about there. When they make it illegal to leave the country without permission, then it will be too la...
#8. To: Hayek Fan (#7)
I've been reading a lot of articles from different areas about how the governmet should repeal the second amendment because it's not needed anymore. When that happens we will be there.
#9. To: bluedogtxn (#6)
#10. To: bluedogtxn (#8)
The Iraqis under Saddam were well-armed, too.
#11. To: bluedogtxn (#0)
#12. To: aristeides (#11)
If democracy survives this assault in this country, the PATRIOT Act will soon be as notorious as the Alien and Sedition Acts.
#13. To: Hayek Fan (#1)
#14. To: JohnGalt (#13)
#15. To: bluedogtxn (#0)
#16. To: Paul Revere (#15)
The Patriot Act is today's Alien and Sedition Act, and equally reprehensible.
#17. To: bluedogtxn (#16)
#18. To: Paul Revere (#15)
#19. To: aristeides (#14)
(Edited)
#20. To: JohnGalt (#19)
#21. To: JohnGalt (#19)
#22. To: aristeides (#20)
#23. To: aristeides (#21)
#24. To: Hayek Fan (#3)
#25. To: aristeides (#21)
#26. To: bluedogtxn (#8)
Nonsense. The Iraqis under Saddam were well-armed, too.
#27. To: Pissed Off Janitor (#26)
I just wish Americans had half the guts the Iraqies and Afghans have.
#28. To: bluedogtxn (#0)
(Edited)
It has always been about the power to force its extreme right wing morality on you, not terrorism.
-- INDIETX 
In a CorporoFascist capitalist society, there is no money in peace, freedom, or a healthy population, and therefore, no incentive to achieve these.
- - IndieTX
"Peace? There's no money in peace! What we need is a war!"
--Three Stooges
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