[muawiyah]

Some of us downwind of the Pentagon still remember the stench of the smoke in our nostrils.

The "Patriot Act" is not a threat to us, but it should be a threat to "them".

[jmc813]

self bump for later

[Deb]

Blah, blah, blah.

After the religion of peace is wiped off the bottom of our shoes, we'll have time to whine about mean, old John Ashcroft and our civil rights.

If people listen to morons like these women, they won't have to worry about the Patriot Act...they'll be busy collecting pieces of their children to bury in shoe boxes.

[Old Sarge]

This is from SLATE, so it's naturally fair and unbiased, right?

RIGHT?

Where'd all these crickets come from?

[Ahban]

self-ping 4 later

[jmc813]

Notice how everyone is using emotional and sarcastic arguments against this article, and not addressing the points made? Typical. I predict a "what liberties have you lost" within 10 posts.

[chachacha]

What we should really be scared of is the nine immoral, left wing democrats runing for the leadership of this country.

GOD help us all if one of them gets elected.

They are the soul reason why terrorism is where it is today, they are the soul reason why race is an issue when it shouldn't be, they are the soul reason why GOD has been leaving our institutions, they are the soul reason why the court system is corrupt, the education system is in decay, our schools are breeding grounds for deviate sex and lack of discipline, our colleges are left wing text books full of left wing professors who support and teach tolerance of all things evil. They are the party with out a SOUL.

They are evil!

[gitmo]

Bump for later reading. Patriot Act.

[joyful1]

Ask this question after the next terror attack.

[m18436572]

bfl

[Vicki]

No I have no reason to be afraid of the Patriot Act.

[abbi_normal_2]

Bump for later reading.

[MissAmericanPie]

I am not for terrorist being able to hide behind our constitutional protections in order to attack. Having said that the congress, the senate, and the American people were lied to. WHY THE LIE?

Neither the congress or senate were presented with a full copy of the bill before being pressured to vote for it, why?

Why has the congress and senate become notorious for passing bills and treaties that they claim not to have taken the time to even read? And why are Americans not up in arms about this fact?

The worse parts of the Patriot Act do not sunshine in four years as advertised, the Patriot Act does not exclude American citizens. It's already being used in non terrorist cases. Given that we will be led blindly into the FTAA treaty, and international laws will over ride our Constitution, any attack on our civil liberties should be taken seriously.

All the Justice Dept and the authors of the Patriot Act had to do was exclude American citizens. There was a reason they didn't, and they acted in bad faith, so the bill should be scrapped and another passed in it's place.

[ableChair]

These propagandists are slick. That article if full of LIES. The Patriot Act does NOT read like the article suggests. It is clearly limited to, and focused upon, either foreign powers (and their agents) or U.S. citizens who are effectively and by definition treasonous. For example; A judge very much CAN deny a request to access public records as the act clearly states:
Upon an application made pursuant to this section, the judge shall enter an ex parte order as requested, or as modified, approving the release of records if the judge finds that the application meets the requirements of this section.
The examples go on, but that article is dung. The only part that is accurate is the reference to how few people have actually read the act. I think the strong liberal opposition to the Act has more to do with their immigration friendly views more than anything else. It is certainly true that under the Patriot Act NON U.S. citizens will NOT be afforded all rights under the Constitution. But who cares?

[dread78645]

Ashcroft ... call the changes in law "modest and incremental."

Seems I've heard this phrase before.
-- Didn't much care for it then, either.

[mrsmith]

The article's discussion of 218 is just garbage. Just garbage.

No mention that probable cause to believe the subject is an agent of a foreign power is required. The author strains to avoid that fact.

Again, see the FISA appeals court ruling I linked above.

[mrsmith]

The discussion of 213 is pretty fair.

"The Patriot Act expands the use of these warrants if "immediate notification of the execution of the warrant may have an adverse result." "

This is a glaring loophole. Congress needs to be more specific.

The article is certainly an improvement over what's been written about the Patriot Act.
But there's still a ways to go.

[steve-b]

The judge has no authority to reject this application. DOJ calls this "seeking a court order," but it's much closer to a rubber stamp.

"Closer To"??? Given that the judge has no authority to reject the application, it is a rubber stamp.

[Publius6961]

Oh sure.
I am so insecure that I daily look to some self-appointed demogogue to tell me what I should be afraid of that day.

Mostly mental midgets who haven't a clue of the distinction and relative importance between "ends" and "means".