The ever expanding Patriot Act


The FBI wants more power to seize documents without a judge's permission
As you probably can tell by now, I'm against the USA Patriot Act. And I am against expanding the powers of any agency using terrorism as an excuse.

"It's for the children."

"It's for the War on Drugs."

"It's for the War on Terror."

These things sound very similar, don't they? And with good reason.

Here are a few things you may not know about the Patriot Act.

First, if existing law had been enforced prior to 9-11, none of the hijackers would have been inside the United States.

Second, many of the provisions of the USA Patriot Act had been in various bills prior to 9-11 as proposals for the "War on Drugs," but Congress didn't want to risk the wrath of the public by actually passing it. Before the "War on Drugs," the excuse was "Organized Crime." Before that it was the "International Communist Conspiracy." Now, I am not saying that these weren't problems, but I am saying that these were the "panic words" that would get people to accept a police state.

And of course, once the law was passed, law enforcement agencies would only focus on the bad guys and NEVER the innocent bystanders. Just like the "War on Drugs" doesn't go after doctors. Or their lawyers.

Bonus question (and this will count for half your grade). What was the official justification for launching a commando raid on a Waco compound in 1993?

And before you answer (incorrectly) that it was because of a bunch of religious nuts, just ask yourself since when does the government have the power to decide what is and is not an acceptable religion?

— NeoWayland

Posted: Wed - May 25, 2005 at 04:12 PM  Tag


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