If you don't want to die,or others to die,why is everyone against Homeland security listening to our phone

Question

calls or the phone calls made by possible terrorists?Its stupid to take away a method as valuable as this away from our government to track them.I'm pretty sure they dont give a cr@p about dope right now, and if your dealing,change your method of communication.If your cheating on your wife,do you think they care HONESTLY!What is everyone afraid of.While at war this is a common practice,its not new.Then after the war it goes back to normal.Its a war time practice that gives us a heads up on danger.Do any of you notice when the terror alert raises but we don't know why? Its because they overheard something that was a possible threat.We don't get all the info because we would all live in a state of panic if we new all the threats.Let them do their job while we are all living in the bliss of not knowing everything that could happen.Plans have been fumbled due to our intelligance ie..listening to "chatter".I don't get the logic of the paranoid!!!!

Answer 1

Well Kellie...

I'm with you.

If you folks would take the time to actually read the Patriot Act provisions you would see how they really work.

The government has had the ability to wiretap your phones for years now and for very broad reasons. The Patriot Act tightens up those reasons. It specifically refers to international calls coming from or being placed to known terrorist people/organizations.

Besides, for every inch that we give that they take a mile, we can get legislation passed that takes back 2 miles. No law is written into stone so far that it can't be overturned. That is the beauty of our system of government.

Furthermore... The number of substantiated Patriot Act civil liberties violations are zero. Extensive bipartisan congressional oversight found no violations. Six reports by the Justice Department's independent Inspector General, who is required to solicit and investigate any allegations of abuse, found no violations. Intense public scrutiny has yet to find a single civil liberty abuse. Despite many challenges, no federal court has declared unconstitutional any of the Patriot Act provisions.

For those of you who are interested in the provision of the Patriot Act, Section 201 that deals with authority to intercept wire, oral, and electronic communications relating to terrorism.

A summary of this section is:

Allows law enforcement to use the existing electronic-surveillance authorities to investigate certain crimes that terrorists are likely to commit.

Common Myth: "Because the government already had substantial authority under FISA to obtain a wiretap of a suspected terrorist, the real effect of this amendment is to permit wiretapping of a United States person suspected of domestic terrorism." [Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Mar. 19, 2003]

Reality: Before the PATRIOT Act, law enforcement had the authority to conduct electronic surveillance - by petitioning a court for a wiretap order - when investigating many ordinary, non-terrorism crimes. Agents also could use wiretaps to investigate some, but not all, of the crimes that terrorists often commit.

The non-terrorism offenses for which wiretaps were available included: drug crimes, mail fraud, and passport fraud. Section 201 enabled investigators to gather information when looking into the full range of terrorism-related crimes, including: chemical-weapons offenses, the use of weapons of mass destruction, killing Americans abroad, and terrorism financing.

Section 201 preserved all of the pre-existing standards in the wiretap statute. For example, law enforcement still must: (1) apply for and receive a court order; (2) establish probable cause that criminal activity is afoot; and (3) first have tried to use "normal investigative procedures."

Here is a link to the text of the Patriot Act. I don't see how people can thumbs up or down this vital part of keeping our country safe unless they have actually taken the time to study it. I was hesitant to support it myself until I studied it and realized that "big brother" isn't trying to stifle me as much as he is trying to protect me on this one.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ056.107.pdf

Go to page 8 of 132.

Oh for goodness sakes avocaronico... If you had done your research with a open mind sincerely looking for THE TRUTH you would have been honest here in saying that many of the theories you just presented have been proven wrong. You don't want the truth or to share the truth.. You want to believe and have others believe the lies. It's pathetic that you have to promote lies to try and reach your agenda. Folks... it is people like avocaronico that you need to fear in regards to your futures. This person is one of the worst of the worst and a person I would refer to as "user friendly" to the terrorists.

Answer 2

What are you afraid of? Why did the towers fall perfectly, violating the laws of physics? Why didn't they fall over? Why was their collapse frictionless? Why did the Empire State building not collapse when it was hit by a plane? Why did the administration obstruct justice, rather than set up a commission immediately? Why did they get rid of the evidence instead of gathering it like they do other catastrophes (like the space shuttle)? Why wouldn't real terrorists go after a chemical plant nearby and kill millions of people? Why wouldn't they use biological weapons and kill off most of the US population? Why didn't Saddam use the anthrax we gave him against us? Why didn't they catch Osama bin Laden when they could? Is it because he was our guy, hired by the Carter Administration, in the late 1970's, to fight communists, and is still our employee? Why were the bin Ladens flown out of the USA just days after 9/11, no questioning, no nothing? Why did Bush connect Saddam with al Qaeda when it fitted the desire to go to war, and now he says there's no connection?

As for the terror alert, why does it always go up when the Bush administration is in trouble? Why was the terror alert a 10 in Ohio in the county that decided the election?

And why did the price of gas suddenly get cheaper, just before the election? Can we have elections more often, so we can drive?

Why does it take less than a minute to hack a voting machine to steal an election? And why aren't they doing anything about it? Do you care about democracy, or do you just care about your stuff?

Answer 3

Quote-"Then after the war it goes back to normal.Its a war time practice that gives us a heads up on danger."

And when do you suppose that will be? I think we're stuck in that sandpit for a long time because someone was wearing his cowboy hat instead of his thinking cap when he "planned" the whole shebang.

If they don't give a cr@p about dope, why did they bust head shops and glassblowers up and down the west coast on the eve of the Iraq invasion? Ask Tommy Chong how much time he served. He was a real threat to national security.

I haven't got a thing to hide, but that doesn't mean I'm happy to have my Constitution altered for "national security" reasons, for "sanctity of marriage" reasons or any other garbage that the neo-cons may have dreamed up with the PNAC or since then.

One more thing. I'm quite calm and collected, but it's obvious by your use of !!!!! and CAPS that you are in need of a sedative. Don't worry, YOUR president will keep you safe.

Answer 4

Are you really that naive? It's just one more way for them to overstep our privacy and take over our lives! As they gain more control over us, they have easier access to make additional laws that are illegal. People have the right to so what they what to whom they please without worrying who is listening in! I'm not generally the paranoid type either. It's just that this isn't about war and it wouldn't stop when the "war" was over, it would continue, because once they make the law they will want to keep it so they can monitor people that "may" be a problem and quite frankly that could be anyone so it'll never end! And about the terror alerts rising...it's not because they heard something that was a possible threat and don't want to tell us. It's usually just to scare people and make people feel like Bush is actually DOING something other than sitting on his *** choking on a pretzel!

Answer 5

Kellie Kareen, come out with your hands up.

You are charged with not looking happy. It is every American citizens duty to look happy.

You are hereby charged with being anti-American. The sentence is death, no trial by jury. You are a danger to the American way of life.

Sorry - just kidding! I tell you what I love about your question, though - you say that "if you don't want to die, or others to die"...and then say that you don't understand the logic of the paranoid.

Sweetie - you ARE paranoid! And everyone dies sooner or later, honey. You do know that, dontcha? Huh?

RING RING!!! RING RING!!!
"Hello?"
"Hey Abdul, have you got the BOMBS there?"
"Goddamit man! I told you not to use that word! We call them PIZZA'S now, remember?"
"Oh yeah...a-hmmm! Hey, Abdul! Have you got the PIZZA'S there, then?"

Yes. I am sure that taking away your right to privacy will REALLY help you all. No terrorist will be able to work a way around that one!

Answer 6

I can listen to your cell phone calls. I just have to buy the proper equipment. But there are billions of conversations out there and unless one of the many key words are picked up by the computer that is monitoring the calls is spoken then they are ignored. That is if they are even being monitored.

Answer 7

All I know is the first real surveillance apparatus evolved with FDR and he used it in order to blackmail for political purposes or to assassinate an opponent's character. He had the FBI gather and maintain dossiers on everyone that was important. Hmmm...

Answer 8

Either you believe that power tends to corrupt or not.

If you don't believe this, then you have not studied history. If you do believe this, then you understand the worry.

I have nothing to hide personally, but since e.g. my social security number that was PROMISED to never be used for any other sort of government ID than for the social security system is now being used to track and actually oppress me, there is already evidence that the U.S. government is just as prone to corruption of this sort as any other group in power: even if it is a virtual group allowed for by our voting system.

The U.S. government is one of the least corrupt in the world, but much of this is because we have people who are indeed paranoid: intelligently so.

Read the founding father's documents: they encourage paranoia regarding power, and say it is essential to retaining liberty.

Answer 9

I am not going to let this kind of fear mongering propaganda scare me into losing my right to privacy - nor do I want to live in a police state.
Let the FISA courts get warrants legally through existing channels.
If we give the government carte blanc to spy on innocent civilians, how do you know this power won't be abused? Bush's saying " just trust us" will not fly. Though I never did trust him.

Answer 10

We aren't at war, and Bush as been violating more than just listening to phone calls! He has interfered in almost every aspect of our personal life, doing it illegally!

Raising the level for terror alerts without telling us why is going to make us feel better???

You should be Assistant Attorney General, or head of disinformation!!

I think Bush has gotten 3,000 killed in Iraq, another 19,910 wounded for his wanting to "Democratize other countries" while taking away our liberties! Something wrong with that picture!