i am not trying to make some political statement, i am simply telling you that your understanding is flawed, and that the continuum you are using in grossly inadequate and misleading. both sides are making stupid political points i dont care about. the right is calling the social liberals fascists because they want to control us and take our money for social programs. the left is calling the right fascists because they like social/moral controls. they are both right to some extent. both sides want to force their will on people, thats sort of a fascist thing to do, right? and since the "right" and "left" really only differ in the way each wants to control me and you, they deserve to be called out. but the right is no closer to fascist because of the nature of things they want to control. the left is just as controlling, just with different issues.
Ouch! Are you serious? The Patriot Act is the biggest abomination of them all. It basically tosses that grand ol' constitution right out the window. Yeah, yeah, it's only used to thwart terrorism, right? And I came down with the rain last night. This bill is the first sign of the hasty rise to power of a police state in a nation amidst national turmoil. Did you ever think about that name 'Patriot' Act? Why did they name it that? It doesn't really have anything to do with patriotism, like you would expect from a bill that would outlaw things like flag-burning. They gave it that moniker to basically put people on the spot, and make representatives feel 'unpatriotic' by voting against it. This 500+ page document was rushed through the congress and senate floors with just about none of the voters having any thorough idea of all that it entailed. It's the type of thing that big-government types (left & right) had wanted to do for years, but knew that such a thing would be met with fierce opposition (and rightly so). 9/11 gave them an opportunity to pull a fast one on people. It's really quite sickening when you consider what an exploitation of on of our nations worst tragedies it is. Think about it.
right, thats alot of talkin. what specifically is wrong with the patriot act? scared of big brother being able to access library borrowing records? boo-hoo.
It appears that you have minimal knowledge of what exactly the 'Patriot' Act entails. Yes, library records are one of the items, as well as other privacy rights that we, as Americans, are to be granted. You can downplay their importance all you want, Martin. But you need to realize that once we are stripped of even the smallest freedoms, they will eventually work their way up to larger ones. In fact, the Unpatriot Act takes care of that in one leaping bound. I'm not going to spell it all out for you. My tendency would certainly be to steer your thoughts, and you're capable of conducting your own critical research. That appears to be a necessary step, anyway... www.google.com
What exactly are the problems with the "Patriot Act" Chaos? I've read the Patriot Act a couple times and I see no problem with it. Don't tell me to look it up on my own because I want YOUR opinion about it and i'm sure Martin does too.
that's just it. while you boys don't see a problem with it's provisons, i do. i doubt you've read the entire 500-page document. i've read bits and pieces of, and it's not exactly the most stimulating read on the planet. anyhow, if you are fine with a literal decimation of much of the constitution, with all of your privacy priveleges being thrown out the window, with the ability to be detained without warrant, arrest, or even being charged, with everyone of your school, medical, and financial records having zero confidence, etc., etc., than there isn't a whole lot that can be said to you. if you don't hold those things, some of your most basic rights, dearly, well that's your thing. in my view, it's a ruthlessly radical. maybe you actually believe that the law was passed in the name of national security. maybe you trust the government too much...
Where in the constitution am I guaranteed a right to privacy? I would like to know the exact place it says I am guaranteed a right to privacy because reading through it, I sure don't see it. Arrests without warrants: According to that on duty cops have the right to arrest people without warrants if a crime is committed in their presence or they have reasonable suspicion that someone has committed or will commit a crime. Wow, a warrant may be delayed only if THE COURTS deem it unwise to immediately notify the person of the warrant. People can't be arrested soley on activities protected by first amendment. Again the attorney general or anybody else must ask the courts permission to retrieve educational information from schools. edit: wanted to add the link. US Patriot Act
The Supreme Court has interpreted a general right to privacy across multiple opinions. I don't have them off-hand, but I'm sure one of the other law students here would be happy to provide them. And think about it broadly...privacy seems fundamental in what our country was founded on.
I know that the supreme court has interpreted the constitution to mean a right of privacy and i'm not arguing that we don't have a right to privacy but CC made a comment about "the patriot act being a literal decimation of the constitution . . . with privacy privilieges being thrown out the window." I just wanted to know where privacy is actually mentioned as one of our inalienable rights, because it isn't in the constitution or the declaration of independence. Roe v. Wade is one of the watermark cases for right to privacy.
