Friday, February 15, 2008
Big Brother is Listening?
Perhaps the worst thing to come out of the terrorist attacks of 9-11 was the Patriot Act which our public servants signed into law in a knee jerk fashion that in retrospect seems a betrayal of public trust. Many legislators admitted after the fact that they didnt even read it! What are we paying them to do? Now we all must live with the fact that every nuance of our lives can be legally monitored in the interest of national security. In truth, the only people who should be really upset about wiretapping are "bad guys". However, I feel a cold chill in the air. We must all be aware that every law put on the books opens the door for potential abuse. How many times have civil rights been violated by authorities who were following the letter of the law? Some of the "bad guys" are in law enforcement...some of them are judges. One can twist and corrupt the spirit of a law without ever violating the letter of said law. Just as politicians and journalists spin information to support their particular agenda, those who are entrusted to uphold the law can spin legislation to support their actions. I am, and always have been a law abiding citizen. I am a Veteran, and am as patriotic as anybody I know. I am on board with this new social contract that we are calling the Patriot Act. Nevertheless, I think that we have taken a major step towards Orwellianism, and am keenly aware that with the increased power the state now has to "protect us" comes an incredible potential for abuse.
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11 comments:
The patriot act in my opinion makes me feel very safe. Unless you are on a list of some sort where they feel they need to monitor your conversations you have nothing to worry about. I feel that if the government can catch major US criminals and terrorists and use phone conversations against them in court it will better in keeping the rest of the law biding citizens safe.
GShaw, I love this post, it is well put togehter and it brings up some very good points on the issue of the "Patriotic Act." Perhaps Mr. Smith would have gotten more out of it if you had put a link to that law. More over fear not because for many years I assure you that the government has listened in on many of our coversations. In-fact the Patriot Act only Qoute: "Made It Legal" for the government to do so! Yes I also agree that there is an "Incredible Potential For Abuse", but no more than that which already happens on a daily bases. When I was in the Marine Corps we did all kinds of missions in many other counrties, most of which we were not allowed to talk about, refer to or even discuss. After some particualer missions we would spend days making durn sure "No-one Would Ever Know That Americans Were Involed Or Ever In That Laction." Like I said before it only made it legal. Andrew, sadly to say laws don't keep you safe or make you fill safe, it is the actual inforcement of the laws that give one this ellusion. It's Obvious the "Hate Crime Law" did not protect the Jena 6.
I cant believe your still brining that up. keep to the topic turner, your potentially ruining a good blog
I have to agree that this law does not make me feel any safer. I think it's as Lamar says, the actual inforcement of the law is what would make me feel safe. But with all things..only time will tell.
Andrew, for the first time that I can remember, your response made me smile. That's a good thing, hope to check out more of your blogs soon.
Its all fun Turner! :)
I see I'm not the only one Mr.Q., got addicted to blogging. I would like to read some of his everyday blogs not just the class ones. Later
>Unless you are on a list of some sort where they feel they need to monitor your conversations you have nothing to worry about.
The "nothing to worry about" argument is never really a convincing one. In a free country, people have the right to be free of government intrusion unless there is probably cause to believe that they have or will commit a crime. There is clear evidence that some of the provisions of the PATRIOT ACT allow for spying on peaceful people who are not criminals and not connected to terrorism, such as the "Grannies for Peace" group that was infiltrated by a government agent. If a terrorist is able to pull off an attack because our agents were busy with the Grannies, then this will have made us less safe.
>I feel that if the government can catch major US criminals and terrorists and use phone conversations against them in court it will better in keeping the rest of the law biding citizens safe.
They could do this before the PATRIOT ACT and could do it even if the PATRIOT ACT didn't exist.
Citizens -- and members of Congress and the president -- don't have the power to determine what civil rights apply or when they apply. That's why every part of the PATRIOT ACT that has gone to the Supreme Court -- a conservative Supreme Court where seven of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents -- every time a part of the law was reviewed by the Supreme Court, it has been ruled unconstitutional.
ajsmith...we all want law enforcement to be able to investigate and use evidence against bad guys. At issue is wether or not they should be required to get a warrant (convince a judge they had a valid reason) before they start wiretapping and preparing to ruin someones life in the name of national security. What if you remind some fed agent of the guy who stole his girlfriend...under the patriot act he can start looking into you based on little more than having a bad feeling about you. What if upon looking into you its discovered that you know someone who has terrorist connections...you met him on a blog maybe...exchanged a few comments. Now you are in trouble...hope you didnt plan on getting a job that required a security clearance. Hope you dont mind being strip searched when you travel...often being refused the right to board aircraft. Hope you didnt plan on having any sense of normalcy in your life...on the other hand, am glad that many will feel more secure knowing you are being handled in this fashion.
gShaw, you are starting to be on fire in you blogs.
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