The Patriot Act II

[Cloud9]

With this war going on, it's easy to get caught up in thinking about what's going on in Iraq, the soldiers, their familys, and the politics of the whole situation. But I think that we should also remember that there are other things going on in this country, other agendas that the government has, that are severely limiting the freedoms we so dearly love and claim to defend.

Have any of you done any research on the Homeland Security Act passed in the wake of 9/11? Or the Patriot Act? Most notably, it provided sweeping powers to law enforcement and intelligence agencies, doing away with the checks and balances that had been put into place to prevent the abuse of these powers. They allow for survellance of citizens, including over the internet. Meaning that if you happen to be surfing anti-Bush sites, the government may be keeping tabs on you. If also includes new definitions of terrorism, which could include members of legitimate protest groups. It also allows for the collection of DNA samples for ANY crime of violence. The government can now wiretap and even arrest you for a minimum of 10 years for being suspected of intentionally or unintentionally violating the Computer abuse and Fraud Act. It allows the government to spy on American Citizens and Foreigners in the country...it used to be that this could only be done if there is suspicion that the person is a Foreign Agent...now the only reason needed is the scarily vague reason that there is a "significant purpose." You can now also be wiretapped without probable cause.

These are just SOME of the disturbing provisions that are in effect now. You can do a quick search to find more.

Now there is a new patriot act, the Patriot Act II coming into play. The government has been very hush-hush about it, and even lied, saying that there was no intention to pass such an act, that it was just for research. Now it looks like the administration will try to take advantage of the war and our averted attention to push this bill forward. This act will limit our civil rights more than before, and will also upset the balance of power that exists between the state and federal government. Under this act, the government will be able appoint federal officials to oversee the state governments. Please read that sentence again and let it register. Also under this act, citizens can be arrested for questionable reasons and held without releasing information regarding their whereabouts, or even why they are incarcarated...the press will also be denied information about arrests, including names. What this means is that anyone can be taken from the street for no other reason than "seeming supsicious" and never seen again. You can also have your citizenship stripped from you for being a suspected terrorist.

If you are not worried by reading this information, and are not planning to do research to take a closer look at this situation, there is something very wrong. Under these new laws, our government will have the means to form the small beginnings of a "big brother" dictatorship. These are the same sort of provisions that leaders such as Adolf Hitler imposed in the early and subtle days of their rule. I realize that we have all been shocked by the events of the past 2 years, but it's time to shake ourselves off and stop being passive in our fear, allowing our government to destroy the very constitution we SAY we are defending right now! Please, for a moment stop talking about the Oscars, Vera Wang dresses and who the best Fraternity is and educate yourselves about what is going on in this country. (And those are all great things to talk about btw, I just ask for a pause to examine a very serious and impending situation). And for those worried about our troops and the war situation - don't allow your concern to blur the focus on defending at home what it is they were supposedly sent to defend! Take a look at what is happening and get involved before it's too late!