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Politics : Bush-The Mastermind behind 9/11? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (3100)	9/28/2003 1:58:28 PM
From: Don Earl	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20039

RE: <<<Justice dept abuses Patriot Act powers>>> The real problem with this slant on the Patriot Act is it makes it look like a good deal to the average person. I doubt many people are going to shed many tears over seeing drug dealers, money launders, etc. getting caught as a result of the Patriot Act. It's a safe bet the Patriot Act was intentionally "abused" in this manner, and well publicized as to the results, for no other reason than to gain public support for the Act. There tends to be clues hidden in how these sort of things are named. The sole purpose of the "Patriot Act" is to give those who have usurped power the ability to arrest patriots. Everything else is window dressing. You start with a self inflicted "terrorist" incident to convince the people they need to be "protected". The people agree to it because they're frightened. When they've calmed down, you tell them it's a good law because they've used it to catch a bunch of bad guys. The ACLU doesn't do much these days beyond defending rich criminals, so the Constitutional issues look like a lame duck to anyone with an aversion to defending rich criminals. The end result is the authority to monitor every person in the country, "arrest" them, and cause them to vanish without a trace, without bail, without trial, and without access to an attorney, slides through without any real opposition. The average person just plain doesn't have the moral or intellectual ability to comprehend that if you don't treat your enemies with honor, you abandon your own right to be treated with honor. The problem with the Patriot Act isn't that it can and has been used to apprehend criminals other than "terrorists". The problem is it gives whoever is in power carte blanche authority to eliminate any threat to their power base, real or imagined, without any recourse to the individual being eliminated. Were you thinking about organizing a peaceful protest denouncing a current abuse of authority? Probably not a good idea under the Patriot Act. The first few emails you send out gets you branded a "terrorist", and poof, you're history. If anyone asks; it's a matter of national security and you have no right to publicly defend your innocence. If anyone asks a lot; they'll be buried right beside you. The Patriot Act itself is probably less scary than the fact that there are currently persons in our government of such low moral character they could even think of asking for this kind of power in the first place.

To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (3100)	9/28/2003 5:29:36 PM
From: LPS5	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20039

Justice [D]ept abuses Patriot Act powers[.] Due, in my opinion, in no small part to intellectual slothfulness prevalent among Americans today. There exists an expansive species of American preferring to immerse themselves in responsibility-mitigating pastimes like conspiracy theorizing or, alternately, choosing to immerse themselves in the lives of sitcom characters. It is exactly the same instinct, differing only in the 'escape route' utilized. Look at what we've experienced on this thread over the last few months: emotionally charged claims with absolutely no evidence behind them. Logical disconnects whereby individuals envision secret plots by government agencies and recommend - often, in the same virtual breath - employing governmental agencies or alternate political candidates to address them. And, most recently, a prideless wave of escapism by which those requesting facts to corroborate conspiratorial allegations are actually asked do research or gather facts backing those same conspiratorial claims. And, of course, it almost goes without saying: the ageless message board psychosis whereby anyone questioning a party line is seen as an agent or co-conspirator acting on behalf of the invented, subversive elements. A shame, really. LPS5