Posted on 06/13/2005 12:48:28 PM PDT by neverdem
THE Patriot Act - brilliant! Its critics would have preferred a less stirring title, perhaps something along the lines of the Enhanced Snooping, Library and Hospital Database Seizure Act. But then who, even right after 9/11, would have voted for that?
Precisely. He who names it and frames it, claims it. The Patriot Act, however, may turn out to be among the lesser threats to our individual and collective privacy.
There is no end to what we will endure, support, pay for and promote if only it makes our lives easier, promises to save us money, appears to enhance our security and comes to us in a warm, cuddly and altogether nonthreatening package. To wit: OnStar, the subscription vehicle tracking and assistance system. Part of its mission statement, as found on the OnStar Web site, is the creation of "safety, security and peace of mind for drivers and passengers with thoughtful wireless services that are always there, always ready." You've surely seen or heard their commercials, one of which goes like this:
Announcer The following is an OnStar conversation. (Ring) OnStar OnStar emergency, this is Dwight. Driver (crying) Yes, yes??! OnStar Are there any injuries, ma'am? Driver My leg hurts, my arm hurts. OnStar O.K. I do understand. I will be contacting emergency services. Announcer If your airbags deploy, OnStar receives a signal and calls to check on you. (Ring) Emergency Services Police. OnStar This is Dwight with OnStar. I'd like to report a vehicle crash with airbag deployment on West 106th Street. Emergency Services We'll send police and E.M.S. out there. Driver (crying) I'm so scared! OnStar O.K., I'm here with you, ma'am; you needn't be scared.
Well, maybe just a little scared. Tell us again how Dwight knows just where the accident took place. Oh, right! It's those...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good thing the Patriot Act has set expiration dates and must be renewed by Congressional vote, eh?
I really doubt that if Hillary wins in 2008, she'll have much of a window to exploit the PA.
bookmark
Gov. Codey of NJ has proposed privatizing sections of either the NJ Turnpike or Garden State Parkway. The Turnpike Authority has already issued tickets to EZPass holders who drove too quickly between two EZPass toll booths. So the technology is already available and installed in all EZPass vehicles. BUT, the NJ Turnpike authority's charter does not grant the Authority the right to ticket motorists. For the mean time the new revenue collection engine was stopped by a judge.
So, here comes an idea to privatize the tollway. Which leads to what, private speed ticketing to raise revenues for the investors of the privatre NJ Turnpike Corp?
How will you feel when Hillary and her cohorts are in office, and have these extra-legal powers??
Will you still be so confident??
bump for later
Don't you love how the group running the EZPass made their money from violations--so New Jersey was having several times more violations than other states (often caused by faulty EZPass system!) Trucking companies had to hire full-time auditors to check the EZPass system, etc. But the system lost money because there were so many false violations, it cost the Turnpike $6 million more than it netted from actual fines in the first year it ran. Hint to officials: never give someone incentive to do a BAD job. In fact, wasn't it WorldCom that ran the system early on?
I might have gotten some details wrong on above...if anyone has corrections, please post them!
Riiiight. After they've spent seven years screaming that we need it to fight terrorism, this gutless Congress will let it expire? And risk having their opponents hit them over the head with it in the next election? The Patriot Act will look like the tawdry, cheap political move that the left has been saying that it is.
If these powers are required to fight the War on Terror, they're required to fight the War on Terror. What you seem to be saying is that they aren't actually required to fight terrorism, you just like Bush having these extra police powers.
If you wouldn't let a Democrat have these powers, then you shouldn't give them to a Republican. Anything else is selling out your liberty, and selling it cheap.
They're probably the same people opposed to to gun control and comprehensive firearm registration (needed to control crime)
LOL!
Good points, all.
It would be easier to trust the Feds if they actually had an acceptable track record of punishing their own when they step out of line. Get back to me on that when Lon Horiuchi is living in a 6 x 10 concrete and steel room.
Already done; remember that last cookie you ate last night? It had a CIA "chocolate" chip in it and it's coming in, loud and strong.
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