Uncivil Liberties

What's most troublesome about Bush signing the Patriot Act II when Sadam was captured is that it takes civil liberties away from us without allowing civil debate.

John is right, this is a very big deal. This law has been missed by the media, broadens search beyond probable cause, hides the trail of infringement and is perhaps unconstitutional.

Comments

[Eva-Marie]

While most Americans sleep...their civil liberties are constantly being eroded in what is an unprecedented assault on our freedom by the greedy, ideologically-driven Deceptive Gang presently in power.

Right-wingers are highly sophisticated when it comes to the art of DISinformation. They have clearly read Goebbels' Propaganda Machine Manual from cover to cover and used it very effectively.

Adding insult to injury, Shrubites order U.S. troops into UNprovoked wars under false pretenses thereby triggering ever-growing anti-Americanism [read: anti-Shrubism] around the globe that will, inevitably, lead to more rather than less "terrorist" attacks against U.S. interests in the long run.

It is a path that could easily lead to a war of civilizations unless...the majority of Americans wake up in time to demand "regime change" in our great nation next year.

Hopefully, it will not be too late....

[DakRoland]

Egads...more "Nazi" comparisons for Bush. I really wish people would spend less time making unrealistic comparisons and deal with the situation at hand.

If this act isn't repealed ASAP, then we do have a serious problem on our hands. I can only describe it as "Too Tempting for the Wrong People". I can understand the need to have broad powers to find and fight the Terrorists, but this, I agree is too much. Put a kid in a toy store with no supervision, tell him he's not allowed to play with the toys until specifically allowed to, and leave him alone for hours. Odds are pretty good there's gonna be about 30 boxes and packages ripped open and toys strewn about.

People need to contact their Senators and Congress Men & Women, and voice their opinions. Demand that the act be repealed and the powers reassessed. Unconstitutional? You bet! Frankly I think the powers they had in place seemed to be working pretty darn dandy as they were. No need to add more.

~Dak

[Marc g]

I completly agree that Nazi comparrisons are inappropriate and off the mark.

Ross, I would ask you especially to think about how social software could be rethought as something for society rather than just business and personal pleasure. I think ultimately it could be a foundation of citizen oversight to prevent goverment officials from abusing their power. See this post by Mark Nottingham for some thoughts on this as well.

[Ross Mayfield]

Thanks Marc, think about it all the time. Its important to note that using these tools for business or pleasure does serve these purposes indirectly and build social capital with latent potential for more direct action.

[Marc g]

This is the year for direct action if there ever was one. This administration has got to go.

[Pierre Omidyar]

A couple more references which might be of interest:

* President Bush's statement on signing the act into law.

* Text of the act. The section of the act in question, redefining 'financial institution,' is Sec. 374.

I know this is a minor point, but it would be helpful if people who reported on legislative matters included direct references to the language in question. In this case, I can't find the reference to "... and any other business 'whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters'" quoted in the San Antonio Current article.

That's because this section of the act is embedded in references embededd in references in existing law, and it was too confusing for me to follow right now.

Congressional staffers rely on Congressional Research Service summaries, none of which included mention of Sec. 374.