Politics

When President Bush signed the H.R. 3199, the “USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 he also included a qualification statement that’s essence is There are numerous provisions of the Act that require the Department of Justice to provide information and documents to congressional committees for purposes of oversight. We will ignore the provisions of the Act requiring oversite when we decide that it will “impair” what occurs in the Executive branch. In other words: The Executive Branch will continue to do what we want, when we want, to heck with the laws and other two branches of government.

How is something like the Patriot Act renewed without much media fan fare or public outcry. Coverage on television was minimal and while blogs and talk-radio activity on the subject rose, it still seems that most American’s are apathetic to laws that hand over their liberties. The provisions of the Patriot Act are permanent. They are not going away with the end of Bush’s term.

The American citizens that do protest are more apt to face the consequences of the Act depending on how it is enforced and how you interpret it.

Dispelling Some of the Major Myths about the USA PATRIOT Act

Department of Justice

Myth: The ACLU claims that the Patriot Act “expands terrorism laws to include ‘domestic terrorism’ which could subject political organizations to surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action for political advocacy.” They also claim that it includes a “provision that might allow the actions of peaceful groups that dissent from government policy, such as Greenpeace, to be treated as ‘domestic terrorism.'” (ACLU, February 11, 2003; ACLU fundraising letter, cited by Stuart Taylor in “UnPATRIOTic,” National Journal, August 4, 2003)

Reality: The Patriot Act limits domestic terrorism to conduct that breaks criminal laws, endangering human life. “Peaceful groups that dissent from government policy” without breaking laws cannot be targeted. Peaceful political discourse and dissent is one of America’s most cherished freedoms, and is not subject to investigation as domestic terrorism. Under the Patriot Act, the definition of “domestic terrorism” is limited to conduct that (1) violates federal or state criminal law and (2) is dangerous to human life. Therefore, peaceful political organizations engaging in political advocacy will obviously not come under this definition. (Patriot Act, Section 802)

Title VII
SEC. 802. DEFINITION OF DOMESTIC TERRORISM.
(a) DOMESTIC TERRORISM DEFINED.—Section 2331 of title 18,
United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘by assassination
or kidnapping’’ and inserting ‘‘by mass destruction, assassination,
or kidnapping’’;
(2) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and’’;
(3) in paragraph (4), by striking the period at the end
and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(5) the term ‘domestic terrorism’ means activities that—
‘‘(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are
a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or
of any State;
‘‘(B) appear to be intended—
‘‘(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
‘‘(ii) to influence the policy of a government by
intimidation or coercion; or
‘‘(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by
mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
‘‘(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction
of the United States.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 3077(1) of title 18,
United States Code, is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(1) ‘act of terrorism’ means an act of domestic or international
terrorism as defined in section 2331;’’.

How do you define domestic terrorism? How does the government?
How do you interpret this section? Do you think American citizens are becoming complacent and take their civil rights/liberties for granted ?

You decide and let me know what you think.

Today’s winner is …. The Patriot Act.

Perhaps President Bush should designate the funerals of returning soldiers as special events of national significance. New provisions in the Patriot Act (see excerpt below) would then allow the Secret Service to step and put an end to it. Why not put the Patriot Act to some good use? We do not need any new laws to stop the anti-soldier, anti-gay, God is punishing you protesters. The Secret Service can just arrest them. Tired of all the screaming surrounding the political conventions, just call the Secret Service. Hate the atmosphere of dissension as the pro-life and pro-choice groups march – no problem. I hope that you see where I am going with this train of thought. I can not think of any group of protesters who are so deserving of this as the idiotic hateful antics of the Rev. Fred Phelps, his family, and all whom contend that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq as vengeance from God for protecting a country that harbors gays, It/They is/are so wrong in so many ways.

The potential abuse of power lays buried within the sections of The Patriot Act awaiting their ascendancy.

As for the Rev. Phelps and his group of collective nuts (my opinion) – your zero’s.

US Patriot Act TITLE VI—SECRET SERVICE
SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Secret Service Authorization and
Technical Modification Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 602. INTERFERENCE WITH NATIONAL SPECIAL SECURITY
EVENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1752 of title 18, United States Code,
is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)—
(A) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
‘‘(1) willfully and knowingly to enter or remain in any posted,
cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of a building or
grounds where the President or other person protected by the
Secret Service is or will be temporarily visiting;’’;
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as
paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), respectively;
(C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2) willfully and knowingly to enter or remain in any posted,
cordoned off, or otherwise restricted area of a building or
grounds so restricted in conjunction with an event designated
as a special event of national significance;’’;

Dubai Ports World pledged to transfer operation of U.S. ports it has acquired from the British company P&O to a U.S. entity. Now the questions remain to define the “U.S. entity” and how will this be handled so that DP World does not suffer a financial loss.

Here is the text of the company’s announcement:

“Because of the strong relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the United States and to preserve this relationship, DP World has decided to transfer fully the U.S. operations of P and O Ports North America Inc. to a U.S. entity. This decision is based on an understanding that DP World will have time to effect the transfer in an orderly fashion and that DP World will not suffer economic loss. We look forward to working with the Department of the Treasury to implement this decision.”

Statement of H. Edward Bilkey, chief operating officer, DP World

As rumors of “Halliburton Eyed for Dubai Ports Deal” have gone around I do wonder. NewsMax and Chron reported this idea. Then there is CSX.
As with all things, time will tell.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it to be always kept alive.” – (Thomas Jefferson To Abigail Adams, 2/22/1787)

Thirty-five years ago today, a group of anonymous activists broke into the small, two-man office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Media, Pa., and stole more than 1,000 FBI documents that revealed years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent. LATimes

COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) an FBI program that targeted organizations that were considered politically radical. Their operations in were discontinued in April of 1971 due to their exposure. I should state “officially” discontinued. The Church Commission”—the 1975 Senate committee on intelligence, headed by Senator Frank Church, of Idaho, which investigated C.I.A. abuses during the previous two decades brings up a familiar.

In 1971 The Citizens Committee to Investigate the FBI released secret files on the FBI’s domestic counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO, to the press, revealing that ordinary citizens had been FBI targets, as had Albert Einstein, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Martin Luther King, John Lennon and Elvis Presley.

Other interesting info found while researching this subject:

10/15/2003 an FBI Intelligence Bulletin no. 89 is sent to police departments The New York times and other media reported that this memo revealed that the federal government is advocating that local authorities spy on U.S. citizens. When the Atlanta Police Department acknowledges that it routinely places antiwar protesters under surveillance, Georgia Rep. Nan Orrock tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This harkens back to some very dark times in our nation’s history.”

Here is the FBI’s response to the media and the original bulletin

Nixon talking to Donald Rumsfeld from the 1971 tapes:

PRESIDENT NIXON: You should be thinking down the road. My view is if we can survive, which I think we can, and do the …(inaudible), I think …(inaudible) can do, as far as I’m concerned, anything in the Cabinet field, except I wouldn’t put you in Defense. I wouldn’t put you in State, obviously, because I think those two, at this time, …(inaudible) Well, you’d have a hell of a lot more experience, but would not appear to be something that you can, or actually, you could be a …(inaudible). But in any other position, …(inaudible) HEW, HUD, Transportation, Interior– you wouldn’t want Agriculture?

RUMSFELD: No.

Even Nixon did not think Rumsfeld belonged in Defense.

lyrics to COINTELPRO by Ryan Harvey