The ACLU and others have voiced their displeasure with the provisions of the USAPATRIOT Act.?
Their primary focus is the access to records that the Act gives law enforcement. Are their concerns justified? Are they making a mountain out of a mole hill? Are we more concerned that federal agents will access our personal information than we are that "bad" people will take over our country?
Answers:
This country was founded on freedom and we have fought long and hard for the civil liberties we have. The patriot act gives the government the right to monitor your phone and email without your consent. They also have the right to pick you up and detain you indefinitely without an explanation, while denying your rights. Apparently, all this administration needs to do is play the terrorist fear card and everyone falls into line. The Nazis used this tactic in Germany with great success. Frankly, I fear this administrations abuse of power more than I do terrorists.
regardless of your fears, the fact of the matter is that the executive/legislative power has been expanded through the act.
some of it has been unconstitutional.
the ACLU is all about power
The ACLU is on the wrong side of issues so frequently that simply the fact that they're against something has become reason to be for it.
If you think that we should always err on the side of law enforcement and never have any limits on their ability to violate privacy without a good reason, you are questioning a fundamental principle of the Bill of Rights. I'm not saying that the Patriot Act goes too far, but it is possible to go too far. It's scary that so many people don't seem to understand that. This is one of the freedoms we're supposed to be fighting for.
Sure, they have reason for concern. The Patriot Act blatantly violates the constitution. As the cases wind their way through the courts, much of the act will eventually be overturned. We have far too many examples of the government using their power to suppress dissent to allow them this kind of unlimited authority.
The problem is, Cheneycorp has acted in such a deceitful way on so many issues, many patriotic Americans no longer believe al Qaeda is out to get us. Bushco has no one to blame for this but themselves. They are the Administration That Cried Wolf. If they told me two plus two is four, I would check it on a calculator. They're THAT hard to trust.
Also, current (pre-debacle) FISA law allowed for three full days of wiretapping before a warrant had to be REQUESTED. Meaning all they had to do was send a flunky to the courthouse with some paperwork, and they'd be in the clear. The Rove Gang plain and simple didn't need any extra authority.
It should be noted that illegal wiretapping was one of the six articles of impeachment brought against Nixon.
ACLU need to be desolved.It has become worthless and biased.
if you have nothing to hid no problem ACLU makes a mountain out of every item.
Nothing gives me more pleasure than causing the ACLU displeasure.
I wish the ACLU would go after credit card reporting companies if they are concerned about the dissemination of personal information.
The Patriot Act protects us and gives us the ability to capture potential threats.
IMO people fears are unjustified. Most law enforcement is too busy with actual criminals and criminal investigations to waste time checking into the average citizens personal life. I have not delusions of grandeur that my life is of so much importance that any federal agent is wasting their time looking into my personal life. For those of you who think you may be a target - why have you done something you think my be perceived as illegal or endangering the country and its people?
As I said just my opinion and it won't be a popular one.
By removing the laws which protect our civil liberties, the terrorists have already accomplished what they set-out to do: change our way of life and destroy our freedoms. The Patriot Act is the greatest victory the terrorists could have hoped to acheive.
They are concerned with the constitution, however some of there dealings have been suspect.
I believed that they are more concerned with the suspension of Habeus Corpus, the secret imprisonment of US citizens, the fact that attorneys who attempt to file writs of Habeus Corpus for US citizens known to be in secret detention have been threatened with prosecution, the provisions that allow the President to suspend elections indefinitely and to use Regulat Troops to enforce Martial Law, (which has been illegal since BEFORE the Ratification of the US Constitution,) and other suchlike trivia.
And anybody who thinks Clinton should have been impeached for lying about a BJ has one hell of a nerve to be talking about making mountains out of molehills.
And why are Republicans such a bunch of crybabies? Democrats get their ox gored by the ACLU just as often. And you don't hear them whining that ACLU and the Constitution it protects should be abolished, because we can't just throw anybody we want in prison without trial whenever we want.
When you give someone or a certain group a lot of power, often it is abused. No one wants "bad" people to take over the country.
The role of the aclu is to make mountains of molehills, to protect the rights of the people before the violation becomes entrenched and accepted. The oject is to avoid becoming a police state. Waiting until the violations are intolerable is poor strategy because by then it is too late to do anything.
NO, they are NOT making a mountain out of a molehill. The "bad" people have already taken over our country.
Actually the ACLU is representing real Conservatives, who are opposed to the never ending expansion of the Federal Government under the Facist/ Republicans.
Dick Armey former Conservative Congressman from Texas, who was purged when the Facist took over the Republican Party is the head of the ACLU
I do not agree with everything the ACLU does but they fight for the Constitution. They fight the fight we, as citizens, cannot. To use the conservative logic, If you are not doing anything wrong why do you care?
We all should care about our freedoms and our Constitution.
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