VICTORY!!!

Well freedom has had another victory. The Senate as voted and the American Patriot Act will not be continued. What a glorious day this is. It shows us that we can still trust our leaders, at least a little bit, with our freedom and we will come out on top.

Thank you to all who contacted your Senators and Congressman and let them know how you feel. And thank you to the Senate who showed once again why we have a two part Congress.

PATRIOT ACT TO BE EXTENDED....WHY?!?!?!

Well despite the obvious lack of checks and balances, and the clear disruption of civil liberties it seems as if the Patriot Act will be extended for another four years amid cries from both sides of the political spectrum to stop such actions.

I know that in the past I have harped on the horrible nature of the Patriot Act, but I think that now is a good time to recap why I say such things.

The Patriot Act signed into power in 2001 following the tragic events of 9/11 give the government far reaching powers to invade the privacy of citizens and further restrict civil liberties without due cause.

The most notable of these things include:

The ability to search financial, travel, phone, and even library records without any cause other than suspicion of terrorist activity.

The ability to tap phone lines without a warrant based on suspicion of terrorist activity. (The 4th Amendment protects against illegal search and seizure.)

The ability to search property without a warrant of even notification of the suspect without cause other than suspicion of terrorist activity. (The 4th Amendment protects against Illegal Search and Seizure.)

The ability to infiltrate and keep records on any group deemed to be a possible terrorist threat without evidence to back up the claim. (already been shown to be used against political groups which disagree with the war and the Bush Administration that have no ties to terrorism such as Peace Fresno, Green Peace, the NAACP, and others. (Breaks privacy act rights, as well as infringes on the right to free speech guaranteed in the 1st Amendment.)

The ability to hold a person indefinitely without charging them based solely on the suspicion of terrorist activity. (The six amendment guarantees a fair and SPEEDY trial, normally limited to holding an individual for a period of 72 hours without charging them of a crime. A good example of the misuse of this would be Jose Padilla, held for 3 years without being charged of a crime.)

The ability to freeze financial assets of an individual based on suspicion of terrorist activity.

Others which can be found within the Patriot Act

In addition to the very clear violations of Constitutional rights the bill is to broad. What is the definition of "terrorist activity". It is not outlined in the bill, so who decides. This gives the government the right to arrest and hold anyone for any reason by simply saying that they are "SUSPECTED" not proven, to be involved in terrorist activity.

Also the ability to infiltrate political groups and keep records on them is absurd. This could easily be used as a way to pressure groups which disagree with a political agenda. This is not to mention the multiple individuals who have complained that their rights have been violated when they spoke out about the government only to have an FBI agent harassing them about what they said.

Are we really becoming a nation that is okay with this kind of thing. That is willing to give up the freedoms that our ancestors fought and bled for, that our relatives and friends are fighting and bleeding for as we speak.

What happened to the nation that stood up in outrage and the idea of any rights being stripped away. We are supposed to be the "Land of the Free" not the "Land of the Scared and oppressed". But that is exactly what we are becoming. We have been so brainwashed by the administration into believing that if we don't give up these rights that we will be attacked by terrorist that we simply look the other way. Well look around you, even with them taking the rights away we have soldiers dyeing every day, terrorist attacks are frequently occurring around the world. Yes you can say that they are not happening here, but it is only a matter of time, no matter how many rights they take away. You can not secure freedom by taking it away, the only way to do it is to vamp up security, secure our borders, and bring our military home were it belongs, and of course quit pissing people off with extreme right wing, redneck crap that comes out of Bush's mouth.

Benjamin Franklin said "The man who gives up freedom for security deserves neither." I would take it one step further and say that he not only deserves neither, but he has neither.

Think about it, the thing that Bush and Cheney are contently saying that the terrorist hate is our freedom, so if we take that away ourselves aren't we giving them what they want? I guess that's one way to beat them, but I'm not to big on the "if you can't beat em' join em'" theory in this case, kinda defeats the purpose.

Thankfully I am not alone on this one, a group of Congressman from both sides of the political spectrum had this to say,:

"We still can, and must, make sure that our laws give law enforcement agents the tools they need while providing safeguards to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans."

And Feingold, one of the six, went further stating,:

"I will do everything I can, including a filibuster," to block passage, said the Wisconsin Democrat, the lone senator to vote against the original legislation passed in 2001.

Of course this did not keep the traditional GOP Bush army from being supporting it and looking for political gain out of it, once again trying to make anybody who votes against the destruction of our rights look unpatriotic:

"We should unite in a bipartisan way to support the Patriot Act, to stand up for freedom, and against terror," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Ah yes, let us all unite as a free country to get rid of our freedoms.

If you think this statement and this bill is as absurd as I do I urge you to contact you Congressman NOW, DON"T WAIT! If you do it might be to late. You can contact them HERE.