Search this site: [Advanced Search]
 

Messages: 1 of 1. Pages: 1
Comments/Replies (0) appear below in chronological order. Comment form is at bottom of page.
The Steady Creep of Statist Control (#1907)
Posted: 11/18/2005; 2:36 PM by Terry Frazier
Reply | Trackback URL | Weblog Permalink
The insidious creep of anti-terrorism laws to include all criminal activity - and the complementary definition creep which links every potential criminal activity to the support, promotion, or  funding of terrorism - continues unabated amid abusive government behavior and growing use of secret National Security Letters that prevent recipients, under penalty of jail, from ever disclosing that they've been served. From a Washington Post investigative report:
  Senior FBI officials acknowledged in interviews that the proliferation of national security letters results primarily from the bureau's new authority to collect intimate facts about people who are not suspected of any wrongdoing. Criticized for failure to detect the Sept. 11 plot, the bureau now casts a much wider net, using national security letters to generate leads as well as to pursue them. Casual or unwitting contact with a suspect -- a single telephone call, for example -- may attract the attention of investigators and subject a person to scrutiny about which he never learns.
The PATRIOT ACT Renewal bill - our first chance to undo many of the wrongs pushed through by the Bush Administration's John Ashcroft - is being gutted. It appears that rather than striking the most onerous parts of the PATRIOT Act, the bill is actually making them worse. EFF has all the requisite information.

Historically, what countries have embraced such laws - subjecting millions of citizens to secret surveillance, making it a crime to disclose the surveillance, and hiding the reality of the laws from the public? If you answer this question honestly you'll be hard-pressed to find a democracy on your list.
Total Messages: 1. Pages: 1

Trackbacks

What other weblogs are saying about this topic. Trackback URL: http://www.terryfrazier.com/1907/trackback

Reply to message #1907...

You must logon before posting a reply

You must login to your account to post a comment. If you do not have an account you can create one here. It's a bit inconvenient but only takes a moment and helps control spam and other bad actors.