Thus Spake God's Creator;
*What's so Patriotic about the Patriot Act?*
By Jessica Fargen
Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Updated: 02:03 AM EST
Legislators, the ACLU and League of Women Voters blasted the USA Patriot Act
yesterday and urged Bay State lawmakers to support a resolution promoting a
scaled-down version of the controversial anti terrorism measure.
``We can all understand what's at stake here. What's at stake is the
very fundamentals of privacy in this nation,'' said Bob Barr, a former GOP
representative from Georgia and vocal critic of the act.
Barr, who testified in Boston at a legislative hearing yesterday, said
the act infringes on civil liberties by allowing Uncle Sam to sift through
library and medical records, perform ``secret'' searches and seizures and
access ``any information it wants''.
The act was passed just weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001, but
certain portions expire at the end of this year unless Congress extends it.
President George W. Bush has defended the act, saying it is crucial to
counter terrorism efforts, and claimed expanded powers helped agents dismantle
terror cells in three states.
Vijay Shah, a 34-year-old from Cambridge, said FBI agents detained him
during an anti-war protest outside the Democratic National Convention last summer.
He believes they cuffed him because he is of Indian descent and held him
briefly, but illegally, because they thought he had terror ties, he said.
``Just a few steps from the Freedom Trail, I felt neither safe nor
free,'' he said yesterday.
Nancy Murray, who works for the ACLU, said she wants security, but the
act goes too far in encroaching on liberties.
``We recognize some powers need to be enhanced, but there has to be real
oversight to prevent those powers from being abused,'' she said.
GOD'S CREATOR
...That was my only sin... :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wise men explore the unknown seeking more wisdom, while other
men fall on their hands and knees and start mumbling...
Todays U.S. Holy Wars News:
http://www.antiwar.com
--
Thus Spake God's Creator; (I don't forgive *****!)
GOD'S CREATOR
...That was my only sin... :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wise men explore the unknown seeking more wisdom, while other
men fall on their hands and knees and start mumbling...
Todays U.S. Holy Wars News:
http://www.antiwar.com
.
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