Originally posted by: Buddhist
Hdeck,
you say i'm jumping the gun early... but am I?
The patriot act was passed, and now the freedom of information act is in motion. (a bogus name. Who would vote against something called the patriot act even if it was one of the MOST unpatriotic acts passed in congress ever?)
The patriot act essentially all but rapes the fourth amendments most liberal of interpretations. Your constituitional rights under the fourth amendment are sacrified if even being casually accused of being associated with terrorism.
Yes, its good to find terrorists. No, its not good to do a greater damage in the end by doing so.
For example, did you know thanks to the patriot act, attorney client privilege can now be violated by the government. The government can now eaves drop in on communications between you and your lawyer. This was not permitted before the patriot act.
Or, law enforcement has greater authority to now enter into someone's home, snoop around, and even place or remove physical objects without presenting a warrant prior to entering. They can even delay presenting the warrant for unreasonably long times. Although this was a power granted previously, it was only excersized under the most stringent of probable causes.
If you want to read more about what a veiled name the "patriot" act really is, check EFF's argument against it.
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.html
Now, as to Jellomancers comment "You unpatriotic, liberal, American hating scumbag!!"
I can only imagine you must of been kidding. Wanting to protect and preserve constitutional rights makes me a liberal, unpatriotic, American hating scumbag? Well, then again, according to Aschroft, _any_ "civil disobedience" is grounds for a terrorist investigation. (Yup! Thats written into the patriot act too! Hows that for freedom of speech? In fact, just for writing what I've written, under the most [sarcasm] patriotic of patriot causes [/sarcasm], the patriot act, allows for a terrorist investigation of me. Because, i've spoken up against the passing of the patriot act and have criticized it here. This makes me a disobedient civillian according to John Ashcroft, the attorney general, who can authorize such an investigation.)
I'd like to point out a sad fact. Hundreds of thousands of Americans died for their country, fighting for what they believed in.
With the sweep of a pen signing the patriot act, we've begun erasing all that they stood for.
Its like that simpson's episode about the "Amendment to be" song and how at the end, all the bills go rushing in after the passed bill says "Its all open now boys! Yeeeha!" Thats what the patriot act has done. Its opened the floodgates to continue placing limitations on constitutional rights. Freedom is very easy to take away subtly, but very difficult to ever get back.
Welcome to a better, safer, America. Do you understand?
-M.T.O