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dda
Premium
join:2003-12-29
Bolton, MA
| reply to LegoPower77
Re: Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft!
quote:
I'm not going to say that Patriot Act or what the FBI wants to do is all perfectly ok (again we need to be vigilant), but in this day and age given the threat of terror attacks, such things are necessary and hopefully, like the Alien and Sedition acts, they can be rolled back when they are no longer needed.
Both the Alien and Sedition Acts weren't necessary when they were enacted; they were done for the same "fear + control" reasons as the Patriot Act. You don't step on the Constitution whenever you feel "threatened." Pulling my library records wouldn't have stopped 9/11; all it will tell you is that I like O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
There are very good reasons why the power of wiretapping and other information gathering techniques is limited; we need only to look at the FBI's past and the whole "Red scare." Since they have abused their power in the past, I see no reason to believe them when they say it will only be used against "terrorists" this time. | |
LegoPower77
Abecedarian
Premium
join:2002-08-03
Arlington, VA
| reply to hpguru
Since when has the Constitution meant anything? If it's a living, breathing thing, then we just need the courts to say what the FBI wants to do is ok. They did the same thing for campaign finance reform—now I as a private citizen cannot make an ad that mentions the name of a person running for office 60 days before an election so the First Amendment is out the window. Since it's a living, breathing document, we can also kill it.
Now that being said, I want to say while we must be vigilant in these privacy matters, first of all, right to privacy is not in the Constitution, it was a fabrication of the court to justify the killing of the unborn. Secondly, administrative warrants—which is what we're talking about here—are not new. They are available for some 355 types of federal investigations, including investigations related to threats against the president, health care fraud and child sexual abuse cases. Thirdly, it's not as if these wire taps take place in a vacuum: they are subject to congressional oversight (so we can all breath easy now  ).
One of the, if not the primary responsibilities given to the federal government by the Constitution is the protection of the people. I'm not going to say that Patriot Act or what the FBI wants to do is all perfectly ok (again we need to be vigilant), but in this day and age given the threat of terror attacks, such things are necessary and hopefully, like the Alien and Sedition acts, they can be rolled back when they are no longer needed.
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"Lunches don't get free just because you don't see the prices on the menu. And economists don't get popular by reminding people of that." --Thomas Sowell | |
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