Politics > Politics-USA > [Fwd: Patriot Act revision, Presidential order to NSA of 2002, andFuture Administrations]
| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"tightwad" |
| Date: |
16 Dec 2005 05:04:03 PM |
| Object: |
[Fwd: Patriot Act revision, Presidential order to NSA of 2002, andFuture Administrations] |
Reposted without consult
When the Patriot Act was passed with faint opposition, my feeling was
that Congress panicked and had passed a bad bill. I comforted myself
that the sunset provisions of the bill would bring change.
Instead of sunsetting the original Patriot Act, Bush has now asked for
_additional_ powers, and Congress seems on the verge of granting him
everything.
Today the New York Times revealed that Bush signed a secret
Presidential order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to
monitor people inside the USA. Prior to this (and possibly
constitutionally today) , the NSA was restricted to foreign spying
only. Amazingly, the NY Times had the full story over 1 year ago but
has sat on the story at the request of the sdministration. Even today
the NY Times refuses to reveal all that they found. The article is at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?hp&ex=1134795600&en=c7596fe0d4798785&ei=5094&partner=homepage
The current administration appears so hell-bent on pursuing terrorism
that they believe _any_ denial of civil rights whatsoever is
acceptable. Today we have such actions as:
- FBI agents requesting lists of gun owners under the Patriot Act,
http://www.gunowners.org/a120605.htm
- the FBI holding seminars to show local police how to use the Patriot
Act to prosecute criminals as terrorists (e.g., prosecuting a meth lab
junkie as a "chemical weapons terrorist"), an obvious subversion of the
Patriot Act.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/14/national/main573155.shtml
If a Republican administration acts in this way, what can we expect
from a Democratic one? Does anyone doubt that if the Patriot Act
remains as is, that a Democratic administration will not swiftly move
to register and then confiscate all firearms? Remember how President
Clinton's administration used the FBI to gain access to hundreds of
background files on politicians. Can you imagine what Hilary Clinton
would do with the Patriot Act and the NSA?
Further, for all the money and changes we have undergone with the
Patriot Act and the "War on Terrorism" there appears to be very little
payback. In justifying the NSA domestic spying, the administration puts
forth two incidents:
- one where an individual was planning to dismantle the Brooklyn
Bridge with blowtorches, and
- one vague al Qaeda plot, involving fertilizer bomb attacks on British
pubs and train stations.
I personally consider the first of these to be ludicrous and both to be
insufficient justification for the Patriot Act or domestic spying by
the NSA.
Are there others on this newsgroup (I originally posted this on
rec.guns, remember) that believe the Patriot Act is a misstep, that we
would be better without the emphasis on "terrorism" per se, and that a
return to the legal situation pre-9/11 and pre-Patriot Act would be a
good thing?
I do not deny that terrorism exists, but believe that we have gone too
far, that our executive branch is now pursuing ghosts instead of doing
good footwork, and that a correction is in order.
.
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