Since George W Bush created the Patriot Act, how afraid are Americans of criticising your own government?

Question

Just remember you have the ATF(Alcohol Tobacco Firearms) CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the NSA (National Security agency) who can do whatever they want since the events of September 11th without asking a single judge.

Answer 1

Very, especially since the Military Commissions Act of 2006 allows the President to declare anyone an unlawful enemy combatant arrest them and hold them there indefinitely. This combined with the Patriot Act scares crap of me.

Answer 2

I have no doubt that this site is monitored, as are many others, including You Tube, who has been pulling everything off it that is anti Bush!

As Yahoo gave the government its records, and who knows what, I will bet they have a file on each of us and I expect a knock on the door by the FBI one day!

Even if they asked a judge, they don't have to prove probable cause. Those judges are rubber stamps!

And C=JD, you are totally wrong. How is it that bush is monitoring Americans, and has been sued by the ACLU, that have nothing to do with terrorist and that are American Citizens. In addition there is another act that is worse, the "Military Commissions Act of 2006" .

Who knows what Bush does or seizes as he spied on Americans for months before found out, he violates the Patriot Act, and it is against the law for anyone to tell a person their records have been scearched! Then there are the Secret CIA Torture Camps which Bush lied about the existence until found in places like Poland!

The MCA allows Bush to pick up anyone he wants with no oversight, no habeas corpus, and without right to a civil trial, which is Unconstitutional! We have a lot of laws that are not constitutional and they remain only because the Supreme Court has not heard them! The MCA is clearly Unconstitutional!

I guess most of you don't recall the "American Citizens" of Japanese descent that were thrown into concentration camps during WWII, having all their property sezied! You also forget about Sen Joseph McCarthy, who never found a "Commie" but sure ruined a lot of peoples lives!

Answer 3

I have no fear of my government for the following reasons:

1) I am not a terrorist
2) am not plotting against my government
3) think that all terrorists should be shot on site without a trial
4) don't give a hoot if anyone of the above read my emails, listen to my phone calls, or watch my every move. Because I know they would be bored to death.
5) have nothing to hide.
6) am not paranoid
7) am not insecure
8) believe that the universe will unfold as it should
9) don't give a horse's **** about what my government thinks
10) knows that every politician within my government is an incompetent moron who doesn't know there **** from a hole in the ground.

Answer 4

It certainly bothers me. I want to know why they have the FBI at a high school kids house because she put kill bush on her web site when she was upset about the war......yet groups like LaRaza and their supporters clearly state they are planning to take over the country and they have college professors claiming they are going to wipe out the gringo and nothing is done. There seems to be dual rules and inconsistant standards which leaves too many loopholes open. It bothers me that they can claim you as part of a "radical" group simply because you disagree.

Answer 5

"[Government agencies] can do whatever they want since the events of September 11th without asking a single judge."

*FALSE*

Warrants still need to be issued from a judge. If the Patriot Act did what you suggested, it would never pass constitutional muster.

"MYTH: The ACLU claims that the Patriot Act provision about delayed notification search warrants "would allow law enforcement agencies to delay giving notice when they conduct a search. . . . This provision would mark a sea change in the way search warrants are executed in the United States." (ACLU, October 23, 2001)

"REALITY: Delayed notification search warrants are a long-existing, crime-fighting tool upheld by courts nationwide for decades in organized crime, drug cases and child pornography. The Patriot Act simply codified the authority law enforcement had already had for decades. This tool is a vital aspect of our strategy of prevention - detecting and incapacitating terrorists before they are able to strike.

"In some cases if criminals are tipped off too early to an investigation, they might flee, destroy evidence, intimidate or kill witnesses, cut off contact with associates, or take other action to evade arrest. Therefore, federal courts in narrow circumstances long have allowed law enforcement to delay for a limited time when the subject is told that a judicially-approved search warrant has been executed. This tool can be used only with a court order, in extremely narrow circumstances when immediate notification may result in death or physical harm to an individual, flight from prosecution, evidence tampering, witness intimidation, or serious jeopardy to an investigation. The reasonable delay gives law enforcement time to identify the criminal's associates, eliminate immediate threats to our communities, and coordinate the arrests of multiple individuals without tipping them off beforehand. In all cases, law enforcement must give notice that property has been searched or seized.

"The Supreme Court has held the Fourth Amendment does not require law enforcement to give immediate notice of the execution of a search warrant. The Supreme Court emphasized "that covert entries are constitutional in some circumstances, at least if they are made pursuant to a warrant." In fact, the Court stated that an argument to the contrary was "frivolous." Dalia v. U.S., 441 U.S. 238 (1979)"

***

"The PATRIOT Act: Senate vote 98-1; House vote 357-66

1) Passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, the PATRIOT Act allows investigators to use the same tools that were already available in the war on crime and drugs to prosecute the war on terrorism. These tools have been used for decades and have been reviewed and approved by the courts.
[...]
"No provision of the USA PATRIOT Act has been held unconstitutional by any court."

Answer 6

i've got faith he's an fairly desperate guy that has a "inventive and prescient" of ways he needs the international to be and he does not back off through fact somebody does not believe him. he's a rock and does not sway through fact his innovations are not "often happening". I nonetheless love W, he has had it hard because he has been in workplace. And particular, I voted for him two times. Gore and Kerry, come on, the place might we be now?

Answer 7

the NSA has software where they can focus in on any telephone or internet conversations that utilizes a certain number of "red flag" words. that's creepy. also, i think that the news media is very intimidated and never criticizes the government in any serious way, and it censors out news that would get it in trouble. all this in the country that is constantly boasting that it is the land of liberty, where freedom rings, blah, blah, blah.

Answer 8

1) The Patriot Act was passed by Congress.
2) Based on what is posted here, the answer is obviously NO!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 9

I'm not afraid. If they were arresting people for criticizing the government half the people where I live would be in jail.

Answer 10

I am more in fear of losing the rights of all Americans provided in our constitution.