Post by Mech on Nov 20, 2003 13:57:03 GMT -5
Here Comes Big Brother
Published on 11/20/2003
Attorney General John Ashcroft has been traveling the country telling ordinary Americans how much better protected they are by dint of the government's powers under the Patriot Act. He talks about terrorism so as to scare the dickens out of the American people.
He doesn't talk about other intrusions into people's personal lives that may have nothing to do with investigating suspected terrorists, but a lot to do with expanding the government's power even as the Patriot Act diminishes personal liberties. Oh, no, his Justice Department would never do that, the attorney general says in shock that anyone would suggest such a thing.
Yet columnist Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune notes that FBI agents used the Patriot Act to go after a Las Vegas strip club owner suspected of bribing politicians. What, you may ask, does this have to do with terrorist investigations? Absolutely nothing, but the Patriot Act has in many ways made it easier for federal law enforcement officers to intrude improperly on people, even to violate the rights of suspected criminals.
Section 314 of the Patriot Act allows federal investigators easier access to financial information from stockbrokers, banks and other financial institutions “suspected, based on credible evidence, of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering.”
It's the phrase “money laundering” that is most interesting. The FBI can go after anybody they suspect has laundered money. In the past, the FBI had to go before a grand jury of citizens to get a subpoena to look at criminal records. Now they can file a secret document to certify they have a reasonable suspicion someone laundered money – for any purpose.
This is a giant reduction in the protection Americans should have against the snooping eyes and ears of federal law enforcement.
Using the Patriot Act to go after crooked politicians is a misuse of power. There are plenty of ways to investigate corruption now. There's the ability to obtain wiretaps and to present evidence to a grand jury. The FBI shouldn't be using a special act intended to stop terrorists and major drug dealers for the purpose of uprooting pols who get kickbacks.
The United States is strong and free because of the personal freedom provided its citizens under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But the Patriot Act threatens that very freedom.
The attorney general used the fear of terrorism to ram through a bill that is abusive in the powers it gives the federal government. The case in Las Vegas was one example of that power, but there will be other abuses. Rest assured of it. And they will continue until Congress finally becomes sensitized to the fact that, in the shock of 9/11, members passed a bill that eats into the muscle of Americans' freedom.
Published on 11/20/2003
Attorney General John Ashcroft has been traveling the country telling ordinary Americans how much better protected they are by dint of the government's powers under the Patriot Act. He talks about terrorism so as to scare the dickens out of the American people.
He doesn't talk about other intrusions into people's personal lives that may have nothing to do with investigating suspected terrorists, but a lot to do with expanding the government's power even as the Patriot Act diminishes personal liberties. Oh, no, his Justice Department would never do that, the attorney general says in shock that anyone would suggest such a thing.
Yet columnist Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune notes that FBI agents used the Patriot Act to go after a Las Vegas strip club owner suspected of bribing politicians. What, you may ask, does this have to do with terrorist investigations? Absolutely nothing, but the Patriot Act has in many ways made it easier for federal law enforcement officers to intrude improperly on people, even to violate the rights of suspected criminals.
Section 314 of the Patriot Act allows federal investigators easier access to financial information from stockbrokers, banks and other financial institutions “suspected, based on credible evidence, of engaging in terrorist acts or money laundering.”
It's the phrase “money laundering” that is most interesting. The FBI can go after anybody they suspect has laundered money. In the past, the FBI had to go before a grand jury of citizens to get a subpoena to look at criminal records. Now they can file a secret document to certify they have a reasonable suspicion someone laundered money – for any purpose.
This is a giant reduction in the protection Americans should have against the snooping eyes and ears of federal law enforcement.
Using the Patriot Act to go after crooked politicians is a misuse of power. There are plenty of ways to investigate corruption now. There's the ability to obtain wiretaps and to present evidence to a grand jury. The FBI shouldn't be using a special act intended to stop terrorists and major drug dealers for the purpose of uprooting pols who get kickbacks.
The United States is strong and free because of the personal freedom provided its citizens under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. But the Patriot Act threatens that very freedom.
The attorney general used the fear of terrorism to ram through a bill that is abusive in the powers it gives the federal government. The case in Las Vegas was one example of that power, but there will be other abuses. Rest assured of it. And they will continue until Congress finally becomes sensitized to the fact that, in the shock of 9/11, members passed a bill that eats into the muscle of Americans' freedom.
