<b>Batman</b>: Who said blindly? Those "other" moves would not have been necessary without 9/11. You said that I was scared. DIdn't something like 15 of the 19 hijackers enter the US through Canada? The "they have taken nothing from me" includes all men and women innocent of terroristic activities. That is different from being excluded from racial profiling, isn't it? <b>Franchise</b> Facing your accuser is for crimes not acts of war. I do not deny that our government has not been perfect, but right now they are all we have to coordinate that war of terrorism which is waged on our soil. I'll stick with them.
Exactly, FranchiseBlade. Once again, you've made my point more eloquently and in less words. This thing of even calling it the Patriot Act really bugs me. Like, here it is. Love it or lump it. But if you don't love it you're anti-patriotic. And if you don't subscribe to certain people's ideas of what a family should be you're anti-family. And if you believe that abortion is a complex, private issue, you're anti-life. Those of us who are concerned about the Constitution and the liberties it's meant to guarantee are patriots too. In fact, protecting these liberties is one of the most patriotic things we can do.
giddyup, I said blindly. Sorry, but you give the impression that the threat to our security is so great that we should accept anything Ashcroft hands out. I said you were scared because you are scared. I am, too. If someone points a gun to my head, I am scared. If someone kills 3000 people and says they'll do it again, I am scared. We are all scared. Your faith in our government is amazing. If you think the Patriot Act only affects people who are guilty of terrorist activity, you are not only blind, but also deaf and dumb.
Please don't put words in my mouth. I know you think I'm dumb but I can and will speak when and where necessary. How does the Patriot Act affect you? Realistically not idealistically.
giddyup, I really don't think you're dumb and I KNOW you aren't mute. I actually think you're smart (though misguided on this issue) and I appreciate you speaking up. That's what this country's about. The Patriot Act doesn't affect me directly, any more than slavery would have. I'm white, so I'm guessing you would say that my opposition to something like slavery would have been idealistic rather than realistic. But that in no way lessens my opposition to it. As an American I would oppose any effort to weaken our Constitutional rights, whether they affect me directly or not.
If you don't have any contraband in your home or car how are yours weakened by what used to be illegal search and seizure? I really can't believe that you think this act only affects terrorists. If we were arguing about what would be proper treatment of only proven terrorists, we'd have considerably less to fight about. In this country the Attorney General does not get to decide who is and who isn't DEFINITELY a terrorist. Or, at least, he didn't used to get to.
I have to believe that the braintrust in the Justice department - and by extension - the White House would only put aside the politician's desire for a public trial, if they had the lawyer's fear that it would turn into a larger ruling on many of the constitutional issues that were involved with regard to the war on terror. I'm disapointed that it didn't go to trial.
I know it's more complicated. If only the damn terrorists would just surrender..... Aren't the men and women in the field having some say about this? Hasn't the AG just arranged for looser regulations in these strenuous times so that the work of apprehension could be swifter? What me worry?
