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[Margaretvur]

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• (January 12, 2023, 01:18:11 AM)

[Demosthenes]

Gah... this is some scary shit.  I don't think it has enough support to pass, but the fact that they're even trying to sneak this in is disturbing.

And "sneak" is the correct word here, considering their tactics on this.

Pitts [an attorney with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee] said that although HR 3179 is not yet on the radar screen of most congress members, activists are working to thwart what he calls a "stealth measure."

"The last time (a Patriot Act II provision) slipped through and got signed was on the day of Saddam Hussein's capture," Pitts said. "There was not a single activist who knew it was coming down the pike. At least this time we know about it in advance."

In total, six bills pending in Congress contain provisions taken from Patriot Act II. In addition to HR 3179, three other House bills (and two Senate companion bills) were introduced late last year:

HR 3179: Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Tools Improvement Act of 2003
HR 3037: Anti-Terrorism Tools Enhancement Act of 2003
HR 2934 and S 1604: Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003
HR 3040 and S 1606: Pretrial Detention and Lifetime Supervision of Terrorists Act of 2003.

I particularly like this bit here:

Barr said the surveillance powers of the Patriot Act play "fast and loose" with the Constitution and that the secrecy penalties in HR 3179 would make its assault on the Fourth Amendment even worse.

"If the government is able to conduct its powers in secret, then we never know the extent to which its power is being used or being abused," he said. "If the government wants to conduct more of its business in secret and without probable cause, then (we should) just amend or repeal the Fourth Amendment, not allow the government to eat away at it in small steps and pretend it's still there."

That's what I've been saying all along... if they want to perform searches and seizures and arrests with secret warrants and no probable cause, fine.... but amend the constitution first so that it's legal.

Until then, they should knock it the fuck off.

[reimero]

Signed

[TerrorDronze]

Holy crap!  The constitution and bill of rights were set up to prevent the government from taking too much power.  People are giving the government an inch here, an inch there, and for the length of time we've been doing this, there's not gonna be anything left of our rights when i finally come to an age where what i say might matter.... 'cause i'm not gonna be able to say it.  It's crap like this that makes me want to try to gather up a following and oust the current system.  By this point even anarchy would be better.

[Demosthenes]

Personally, I'd be willing to settle for minarchy.

[phyre]

Personally, I'd be willing to settle for minarchy.

Min is a good choice.

[Demosthenes]

Now if only we can convince her to go forward with her coup.

[phyre]

Not likely. Not only is she humble, but she's patient as a clam. She'll never overthrow what's already there, even though the power is within her grasp. Which, when you think about it, is why we want her there.

[TerrorDronze]

THen why not just overthrow, and put her there?