Posted on 03/07/2003 10:14:33 PM PST by Commie Basher
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NEWS FROM THE LIBERTARIAN PARTY
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW, Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
World Wide Web: http://www.LP.org
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For release: March 6, 2003
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For additional information:
George Getz, Communications Director
Phone 202) 333-0008
E-Mail: pressreleases@hq.LP.org
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Sequel to USA Patriot Act is every tyrant's dream, Libertarians say.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Here's great news for everyone who supported the USA Patriot Act, Libertarians say: The Justice Department has secretly drafted follow-up legislation that would allow the government to make secret arrests, create a vast new DNA database of "suspected terrorists" and even strip Americans of their citizenship and deport them.
"If you liked the Patriot Act, you're going to love the sequel," said George Getz, Libertarian Party communications director. "Patriot II offers awesome government power, rapidly disappearing freedom, and an action-packed war on the Constitution. You'll be sitting on the edge of your seat as your liberties are stripped away."
The Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 (DSEA) – dubbed "Patriot II" because of its similarities to the USA Patriot Act – was secretly written by the Justice Department in January and has not yet been introduced in Congress. A draft of the legislation was leaked recently to the Center for Public Integrity and posted on its website.
"The original Patriot Act got rave reviews from authoritarians everywhere," Getz noted. "Rogue FBI agents conducting 'sneak-and-peak searches,' an e-mail spy scheme named Carnivore, secret deportations – this legislation was every petty tyrant's dream.
"It opened to a packed House – and Senate – in October 2001 and got a nearly unanimous 'thumbs up.' Clearly there's a market out there for less freedom, and Washington is rushing to cash in with a sequel."
The plot for Patriot II: A group of unscrupulous politicians in a large, Western democracy capitalize on a terrorist attack in order to vastly expand their powers. They embark on an effort to convince their subjects that by surrendering their freedom they will be protected from terrorists and other criminals.
Working along with a "Department of Justice," they subvert the Constitution by secretly crafting legislation that allows the government to:
* Make secret arrests, overturning a federal court decision requiring the government to identify persons detained in the 9/11 investigation.
* Issue secret subpoenas, and jail people who reveal to anyone except their attorney that they are the subject of a secret investigation.
* Strip citizens of their citizenship for associating with a group designated by the attorney general as a "terrorist organization," even if the individual's conduct is legal.
* Allow the attorney general to deport any foreigner, even a permanent legal resident, whose presence he deems "inconsistent with national security."
* Create a database of DNA collected from "suspected terrorists" and from non-citizens suspected of ordinary crimes.
* Conduct a wiretap for 15 days without a judge's approval, and monitor an individual's Internet and chat room visits for 48 hours without a court order.
* Overturn local court decrees that restrict police from illegal spying.
* Weaken the Freedom of Information Act to prevent journalists from learning who is being held in police custody.
Though Patriot II is expected to be a hit with politicians and much of the public, not everyone will be buying a ticket, Getz predicted.
"Libertarians and other freedom-loving Americans have panned Patriot II for obvious reasons," he said. "It's burdened by the same clichéd cast of characters as the original – a devious attorney general, an opportunistic president, and pandering politicians who hoodwink people into surrendering their freedom.
"Will anyone fall for this story line a second time?"
We do have those that joined us after the recount or 9/11 that are just rah-rah Republicans that probably think very little about such issues, and maybe a few fall into the neocon category on other issues, but growth of federal government is a joint issue for both sides of the conservative spectrum.
And, since you mentioned the so called "rah-rah Republicans" I have noticed them also.
It's good that they found FR, over time I think the rah-rah will give way to a genuine desire to conserve and protect our Constitution.
At least I hope so. I think Rush and FR are two of the most powerful weapons in the Conservative arsenal at this point in time.
All I can say is imagine Hillary Clinton and Janet Reno having these powers.
How could you misspell "post"
It was an optical delusion.
Indeed? And just how in your opinion did the federal government "drop the ball" on 9/11? What else could they have done to prevent this cadre of committed terrorist murderers from hijacking these aircraft?
Its a no-win situation for the federal government either way. If they had somehow had the gift of prescience and ramped up security to the point where hijackings would have been completely impossible, libertarians would have moaned and wailed and call them "jackbooted nazi thugs" (not that they don't now, but that's beside the point). Conversely, if they had taken the completely laissez-faire, hands-off, libertarian approach to airport security and done nothing at all, you would have a 9/11 just about every day in this country. You might as well just seat every burnoosed wacko on the planet with an axe to grind against America in the flight engineer's seat in the cockpit on every commercial flight.
Commercial aircraft get hijacked on a depressingly regular basis, all over the world. If there is a way to completely prevent hijackings without locking the passengers in a padlocked steel box and putting them to sleep, then I haven't heard of it. Perhaps libertarians should move en masse to this fantasyland if it exists.
In my opinion, 20-20 hindsight is the last refuge of the political bottom-feeder and those seeking to make cheap rhetorical points.
I think you have it right, CA, for the most part we are going to have to give up some of our traditional expectations of privacy.
You're a pretty pathetic f---ing excuse for an American. You should go back and re-read the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Sorry, but preventing even one terrorist act is not worth the Patriot Act and the loss of freedom. There are 285,000,000 Americans and since 2000, less than 5,000 have been killed as results of terrorism. During the same 3 years (2000, 2001 & 2002), about 2.1 million Americans died from heart disease. Why not outlaw steaks or curtail our abilities to buy beef? Since 2000 about 600,000 Americans have died as a result of smoking (emphseyma(sp?) and lung cancer. Why not outlaw cigarettes?
Maybe you should emigrate to Cuba or China where there aren't many freedoms, do you think you'd feel safer there? When government suspects its own citizens (as the Patriot Act and TIPS did) then something is definitely wrong and Americans should be very alarmed and very scared.
Since you desire security over freedom, just go ahead and renounce your American citizenship and go north to Canada. They'll take care of your little wussy butt from crib to corpse.
They that can give up essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security."
-- Benjamin Franklin
There are three BIG things that the government refused to allow that would have prevented 9/11/2001:
Armed pilots
Profiling
Fire incompetent federal workers
The US Government KNEW there was heightened activity by Al-Qaeda within the United States. Al-Qaeda members consist mostly of MIDDLE EASTERNERS! But nooooo -- we surely couldn't profile, that would be 'racist', even if it does save lives.
Many, if not most, airline pilots are former military and all military go through basic training and learn how to handle firearms. In addition, these planes were hijacked by 4-5 individuals with BOX CUTTERS! The very things that allow us to break down cardboard boxes got the 4 planes hijacked. An armed pilot, co-pilot and navigator more than likely would have been able to stop this with bullet diplomacy. To this day, pilots still aren't armed. For what it is worth, pilots USED to be armed before the Lyndon Johnson Era.
Fire incompetent federal workers. Somewhere along the line communication broke down and the word from that one FBI official regarding Middle Easterners taking flying lessons but not learning how to take off or land did not get enough in the organization to set off flags. This points to incompetence and negligence by the federal government. More than likely, those negligent employees are still in their 9/10/2001 jobs or even promoted! Firing government workers is harder than firing tenured teachers! Government should NOT be a jobs program, it should be just like the private sector, if you aren't excelling, then you're job searching. Too many in government are the lowest common denominator of society. When it comes to protecting this nation, this is unacceptable. Disclaimer: I don't consider the military to be government workers, these are defenders of freedom..
Stop being obtuse, re-read your post and then get back to be about "cheap rhetorical points." Strela.
(You should be certified in that department by now... )
Hint: Government NEVER gives up powers that the people surrender to it. NEVER. You should try to learn that.
I'm waiting for breaking news on how and why the Liberteens remain relevant...
Armed pilots
Wouldn't have helped in the slightest. "Armed pilots" is a simplistic mantra for the knee-jerkers and bunker kooks out there, nothing more. The terrorists could have used any number of methods to overcome an armed pilot; rushing the cockpit en masse, laying down smoke, a stun grenade, or CS and obscuring the pilot's view, or simply blowing up the plane from where they sat or threatening to do so unless the pilot came out of the cockpit unarmed.
There are inadvertent discharges of firearms every day in the military, on police forces, at private ranges, and in private homes and businesses. How many airliners full of passengers downed by a stray round are worth the dubious "safety factor" of thrusting a .38 Special into the hands of every pilot whether he wants it or not?
When I was taught how to handle a firearm, one thing that was drummed into MY head was "Simply having a firearm does not make you Rambo or invincible."
Profiling
Ah yes, I was wondering when you were going to get around to this one. In America, people are innocent until proven guilty. Sorry to hear about the country you apparently hail from.
Fire incompetent federal workers
Even Superman wouldn't have been able to foresee and prevent at least four separate hijackings, all on the same day, all unexpectedly, all employing a devastating new type of attack on American property and people. 9/11 was the bellwether of a new type of war. And, sitting back and attacking the people fighting that war like you're doing isn't helping us win the war.
If you (and the LP) have all the answers to terrorism as you claim, then you should either go to work for the federal government and start enacting your wonderful ideas, or start garnering more than .03 percent of the vote in national elections and do it via the ballot box. Until you do, you in particular and libertarians in general remain the crazy uncle in the attic of American politics.
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