I told you so, I did

Back in 2004, I wrote an 8-part series in the Watauga Democrat on the USA PATRIOT Act. I explained the good, the bad, and the ugly. Here it is.

Then I spoke everywhere I could get myself invited to speak about it, trying to build support for a resolution I was bringing to the Town of Boone. The resolution was supported by five other entities who passed support pieces. And we gathered about 500 signatures in support.

The resolution passed narrowly (3-2). Here it is.

This was a movement to call on Congress to modify the USA PATRIOT Act. Specific sections of the law were identified as serious threats to the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution. More than 400 towns and counties and eight states passed these resolutions.

Yet, here we are, nine years later (and almost 12 years since the law was passed in the first place), and we're learning about how the law is being abused, as well as other federal data mining and spy programs being employed across the nation. And, thankfully, it's all over the news.

Here are some examples:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/us-intelligence-mining-data-from-nine-us-internet-companies-in-broad-secret-program/2013/06/06/3a0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

http://www.thenation.com/blog/174696/its-worse-you-thought-nsa-spying-and-patriot-act

AP

Obama Administration Under Fire
Over 2nd Mass Surveillance Project

Director of National Intelligence Clapper defends administration's surveillance efforts after report says a secret program is allowing the government to mine nine American tech giants, including Facebook and Google, for user data, a day after report of a secret court order that allows NSA to seize millions of phone records for American Verizon customers.

Author of Patriot Act Says NSA Records Collection 'Never the Intent' | VIDEO: Misuse of Patriot Act?

Lawmakers Misled on Collection of Phone Records? | Verizon EVP Statement | VIDEO: Government Run Amok?

NY Times Editorial Board Says Administration Has 'Lost All Credibility' | VIDEO: McCain Says Explanation Needed

OPINION: Even New York Times Sounds Like Tea Party | OPINION: Records Grab May Be Legal, But Is It Wise?

I could say, "I told you so." But I won't

But I will say this: Thank God for the news media. I mean, this is why they exist, to operate as a check on power, to keep us informed, to make sure we are free. So this is a good reminder of why we need to make sure the corporations that own them don't dupe us or keep us in the dark.

My personal solution would be to wrestle control of the media from the corporations and give it back to the people.

And of course there are independent media organizations that cover these stories everyday, even when the mainstream media are not. Try Truthout and Common Dreams, just to name a couple!

This is not NEW but it is still news

And I am placing it here because, if you are like the average American, you are totally unaware that it happened!

"I believe that when more of my colleagues and the American public come to understand how the Patriot Act has actually been interpreted in secret, they will insist on significant reforms too," said Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who tried to block the renewal. Sen. Mark Udall, a Colorado Democrat, offered a similar warning.


The cautionary note from two members of the Senate Intelligence committee -- who are briefed on classified activities and are tasked with overseeing the NSA, CIA, and the Justice Department's "intelligence activities" -- is highly unusual, and perhaps even unprecedented.

And it's prompted intense speculation about what kind of constitutionally dubious surveillance, which could include vacuuming up cell phone location records, the Obama administration might be engaging in.


Patriot Act renewed despite warnings of 'secret' law

Patriot Act Extension Signed By Obama 

Read the summary in the book, as well as how little media coverage it generated. Then tell how you can possibly think the media did its job with regard to this law.

Yes, Bush signed it into law. But so did Obama!

USA PATRIOT Act renewed, again

Immediately after the terrorists attacks of September 11th, 2001, Congress passed and President Bush signed a law that changed the way Americans lived. Specifically, it eroded several Constitutional freedoms we enjoy as citizens.

We were told the law was meant to stop another attack by al-Qaeda, which was imminent. Members of Congress were warned by the Justice Department that, if you do not pass this law, the blood of Americans will be on your hands.

We were also told the law was temporary. Much of the law was permanent from its passage.

Yet, about every four years, some provisions of the law come up for renewal. And remarkably, even though we are led by people who say they value our freedoms, these lawmakers routinely extend the USA PATRIOT Act again and again. First the Senate (in a 72-23 vote) and now the House (in a 250 to 153 vote). All that is needed now is a signature by President Obama, and Americans will continue to live in a world where the Constitutional freedoms (specifically the protections against unreasonable search and seizures in the Fourth Amendment) not longer exist, at least in terrorism investigations.

I've written a comprehensive article of the USA PATRIOT Act, outlining the facts of its passage as well as its benefits and drawbacks. It is a disturbing account.

The article concludes with this:

"From the review of the USA PATRIOT Act presented in this article, it is safe to conclude that the US government has restricted the liberties of all Americans in order to prevent or reduce the threat of terrorism on our soil. We may be wise, then, to carefully consider the admonition of Benjamin Franklin, who wrote in 1755: 'Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.' A slightly altered version of this statement appears on a stairwell of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, in New York Harbor, overlooking the very city that suffered the worst of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001."

Sadly, we have forgotten these words and their meaning. Further, I find it highly ironic that we routinely recognize our military troops for fighting overseas in the "war on terror" to "protect our freedoms" while we willingly sacrifice them at home as part of this same war.

Edit: I should have added this: The law was passed at the last possible moment with virtually no debate. It was so late in the process, in fact, that President Obama had to sign it from abroad using an "autopen." Nice.

Hello PATRIOT Act, welcome back

They've done it again.

The House of Representatives has renewed the USA PATRIOT Act.

From the article:

"Congress has until Feb. 28 to extend the expiring provisions of law enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"The House voted 275-144 to continue the provisions through Dec. 8. The Senate is expected to take up the bill before the end of the month.

"Republican leaders in both the House and Senate want to extend the provisions permanently, and revisiting the issue in December would interject it into the 2012 presidential race. But a permanent extension faces an uphill climb in Congress.

"House leaders were able to overcome opposition only by using a procedure that required a simple majority for passage, rather than the supermajority required last week. More than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats Monday in voting against the short-term extension.

"Sixty-five Democrats voted in favor of the extension, while 117 Democrats and 27 Republicans voted against it.

"The legislation would extend three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act. The so-called library provision allows authorities with a court order to investigate a wide swath of documents, including library records, of terrorism suspects. The roving wire tap allows authorizes to conduct surveillance on suspects when they change phones or locations. The lone-wolf provision allows surveillance of foreigners even if they have no relation to terrorist groups."

It's not how you feel about it that matters. It's that the media STILL are not telling why people are even concerned about it, or whether we need to be.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-0214-patriot-act-20110215,0,1585488.story

Failure by the House to Renew Three Key Patriot Act Provisions

Can you say it with me?

"Holy shit!"

From the article:

"The House of Representatives failed Tuesday to extend the life of three surveillance tools that are crucial to the United States' post-Sept. 11 anti-terror law, a slipup for the new Republican leaders who miscalculated the level of opposition.

"The House voted 277-148 to keep the three provisions of the USA Patriot Act on the books until Dec. 8. Republicans brought up the bill under a special expedited procedure that required a two-thirds majority, and the vote was seven short of reaching that level.

"The Republicans, who took over the House last month, lost 26 of their own members, adding to the 122 Democrats who voted against it. Supporters say the three measures are vital to preventing another terrorist attack like those on Sept. 11, 2001, but critics say they infringe on civil liberties. They appealed to the antipathy that newer and more conservative Republicans hold for big government invasions of individual privacy. The Patriot Act bill would have renewed the authority for court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. Also addressed was Section 215, the so-called library records provision, which gives the FBI court-approved access to "any tangible thing" relevant to a terrorism investigation.

"The third deals with the "lone-wolf" provision of a 2004 anti-terror law that permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. people not known to be affiliated with a specific terror organization.

"Among the 26 Republicans against the extension were seven freshman lawmakers backed by the Tea Party movement, whose members have said the Patriot Act intrudes on every-day life, NBC News reported. They are David Schweikert of Arizona, Tom Graves of Georgia, Raul Labrador of Idaho, Randy Hultgren and Bobby Schilling of Illinois, Justin Amash of Michigan and Christopher Gibson of New York. An eighth first-term Republican, Michael Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, joined them."

Go Tea Party!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41482485/ns/politics-capitol_hill/

Important facts about the USA PATRIOT Act

In the book, evidence is presented that, for the most part, the mainstream media ignored serious issues and potential problems with the USA PATRIOT Act, passed shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and meant to be temporary law. I show how there were literally only a handful of stories on the law.

Even those provided no context about the law -- who wrote it, what did it do, how did it change our civil liberties, was it worth the loss of freedom, would it actually keep it safer, etc. Thus, there was little critical coverage of the law, suggesting the media failed in their role of watchdog of the powerful.

Well, the law is still with us (just renewed again without privacy provisions in place for another year by Congress and President Obama). And the problems with the law remain. Yet, there is almost no coverage of these issues in the inner-ring/uper-tier media.

Luckily, organizations like these allow us to learn more about the law. But to learn the truth, you have to go to these sources, for the media are simply not covering the story.

Spend some time there and learn the facts.

http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/

http://w2.eff.org/patriot/

http://www.aclu.org/national-security/usa-patriot-act