Posted on 06/21/2005 7:58:19 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The U.S. House of Representatives dealt a blow to Big Brother last week.
The House voted 238-187 to protect our library records and bookstore receipts from willy-nilly government perusal.
The bipartisan vote sent a clear message to the U.S. Senate and to President Bush that the privacy rights of law-abiding American citizens must be respected even as the hard work of fighting and preventing terrorism continues.
Congress and the president are preparing to extend the Patriot Act, an anti-terrorism law quickly approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The president has threatened to veto the measure if Congress makes changes. The Senate should call the president's bluff by accepting the House change.
Libraries and bookstores are not havens for terrorists. They are learning centers for vast numbers of Americans who shouldn't have to worry about which titles or authors they happen to be reading.
Quirky taste in reading material shouldn't prompt or prop up bogus investigations of innocent bookworms. If the Justice Department or the FBI has good reason to suspect someone of terrorism, they should be able to convince a judge that a search warrant for library and bookstore records is warranted. The House change wouldn't prevent that.
A majority of Wisconsin's House members, including all four Democrats and Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Petri of Fond du Lac, voted to block easy government access to our reading records. Those favoring broad government power to peruse our library and bookstore records were U.S. Reps. Mark Green, R-Green Bay - who wants to be Wisconsin's next governor - Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, and James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls.
The federal government hasn't even used the provision to obtain library or bookstore records, according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. If that's the case, why leave this broad, invasive power in place? By the government's own admission, it hasn't done any good and hasn't been needed despite significant and numerous terrorism warnings issued by the government in recent years.
In all likelihood, a potential terrorist would use the Internet to find information for their plot - not the public library or a Borders. And accessing the Internet takes little more than a cheap computer plugged into a phone line at a motel.
Adding to the uselessness of government snooping powers at libraries is the fact that many libraries regularly purge from their computers everything but overdue items.
Even if staunch proponents of a sweeping Patriot Act remain unconvinced, the House threw them a bone. The House version of the Patriot Act carves out permission for government to seek records on Internet use at libraries.
We doubt that power will be any help in terrorism prevention and prosecution, either. But it's less offensive because many libraries limit access to certain Web sites, such as those devoted to pornography.
The Patriot Act may still be needed to make sure our nation is adequately protected. But it's continuation must be coupled with careful thought and concern for the privacy rights of ordinary Americans.
The House vote last week was a welcome step toward protecting people's lives and their liberty.
I agree. This never would have flown around here if it were proposed by a Janet Reno justice department. But the pubs get a pass and even a round of applause for it.
Landfill?
That depends on whether they're doing a legitimate investigation or helping somebody build a Purple File. Has everybody forgotten Hillary and her collection of FBI records already?
A reporter referred to Weaver's book as "extremist". no one in the govt did.
Not only that but there's no way of knowing how this guy obtained the book. Did he buy it? Did he shoplift it? Did someone give it to him?
Have you really forgotten the Clinton era already? Does the phrase "FBI files" mean anything to you at all in that context?
And that's just one example. All you have to do is look around the world, and especially over the history of the last century, to see what happens when government gets too much into the habit of spying on citizens.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Hillary take already prepared files on individuals who had previously undergone vetting by the FBI for a security clearance?
At least that's how I remember it.
I do think the request to review books checked out should be approved by a judge. (I could be wrong, but I thought it DID have to be approved by a judge.)
Frankly, I doubt the FBI has time to go around to all the libraries in the U.S. randomly checking reader's book histories. I'm sure there is a reason they'd want to know what books were on an individual's list. (I'd just want that reason reviewed by a judge.)
I do think the request to review books checked out should be approved by a judge. (I could be wrong, but I thought it DID have to be approved by a judge.)
Frankly, I doubt the FBI has time to go around to all the libraries in the U.S. randomly checking reader's book histories. I'm sure there is a reason they'd want to know what books were on an individual's list. (I'd just want that reason reviewed by a judge.)
Doesn't the Washington Post dump cookies on our computers and track what sites we go to? I'd rather have the folks who want to protect me following me look at my books ( which has never been done!!!!) than have the Washington Post following me around the Internet. Does anyone know what their cookies do and how much infor they collect?
What difference would that make? Either way, it shows that people in government don't always have the best interests of the country in mind when making use of their powers.
Doesn't the Washington Post dump cookies on our computers and track sites we go to? I'd rather have the FBI, folks who want to protect me, looking at what I read, than have the Washington Post following me around the Internet. Does anyone know what their cookies do and how much infor they collect?
OK, I see where you're going with this.
Just remember to sweep tonight for surveillance devices the govt has planted in and around your house.
Try not to leave your house between 3 and 4 PM. That's usually when a top-secret satellite will fly over your neighborhood.
BTW, at least two members of the city council in your hometown are on the payroll of a top-secret govt agency committed to destroying your civil rights at every chance they get.
Technically, all those library books are public property, meaning they belong to you and me. I don't see a problem with my representative government, in my best interest, knowing who is reading my books and what they are reading. If they want privacy, go buy them.
But not telling you about it? They're "your" books, after all.
No. You put words in my mouth by saying that I trust govt completely. Nothing in my previous posts indicates a complete trust in govt.
However, since your paranoia precludes you from having an intelligent conversation, I decided to resort to satire.
I'm glad you caught that. I was worried that you wouldn't.
BTW, I looked over your tax records a short while ago. Conmsidering what we know about you already, I'm a little amazed at how you under-reported your income.
Hmmmm.....
Not to shock you, but bookstores keep track of what you read and what you buy - and I wouldn't be surprised if they sell that information. To anyone with the green. And you want me to be afraid of the good guys when they want to protect me? Gimme a break. If the FBI wants to know what I'm reading, I'll send them a list... or they can buy it from my local mega book store.
"I'm not. If it was important enough to the founding fathers to specifically prevent the government from doing this kind of thing, then that's good enough for me. The "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about" argument could be used to justify anything, including placing cameras in all of our houses and cars to make sure we are not committing a crime."
Your talking about two completely different things. Library books are public property. Houses and cars are private property.
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