House bill approved: Patriot Act extended 10yrs the day of the London "bombs"

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the nation's main anti-terrorism tool, just hours after televisions in the Capitol beamed images of a new attack in London.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent, recalled using such tools in gang and child molestation investigations.

"All we do in the Patriot Act is say, 'Look, if we can go after child molesters sitting in the library and bombers who we need to sneak-and-peek on a warrant, we ought to be able to go after terrorists,'" he said.

As similar legislation worked its way through the Senate, House Republicans generally cast the law as a valuable asset in the war on terror. Most Democrats echoed that support but said they were concerned the law could allow citizens' civil liberties to be infringed.

The roving wiretap provision, Section 206, allows investigators to obtain warrants to intercept a suspect's phone conversations or Internet traffic without limiting it to a specific phone or identifying the suspect. The records provision, Section 215, authorizes federal officials to obtain "tangible items" such as business, library and medical records.

The bill also includes 10-year extensions to the two other provisions set to expire on Dec. 31, one allowing roving wiretaps and another allowing searches of library and medical records. FULL STORY
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The above is just a few snippets.. I suggest reading the whole article. What are your thoughts? Don't you find it interesting the republicans mentioned child porn and the patriot act in the same sentence? What do you think about this?

*sigh*

i think that we are going to see a large, concerted effort - not only to make porn illegal, but also to make people who work with porn look like very very bad human beings. that way, no one would consider porn protected by freedom of speech.

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Originally Posted by Squirt

Don't you find it interesting the republicans mentioned child porn and the patriot act in the same sentence? What do you think about this?

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Originally Posted by basschick

*sigh*

i think that we are going to see a large, concerted effort - not only to make porn illegal, but also to make people who work with porn look like very very bad human beings. that way, no one would consider porn protected by freedom of speech.

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I agree.

It's also important to point out the lack of definition of terrorist. What does one have to do to be considered a possible terrorist? Pornography? They've often tried linking pornography as a means of money laundering for terrorist activities. If I travel often am I a terror suspect? If I visit the Philipines and China can I be a possible link to terror.. therefore they have a right to invade my privacy without due process?

Please uncle Sam protect me. I'm scared of terrorists. Take away my rights, I don't need them.. I just need to feel safe.

Our government can't keep prisoners in jail safe from being killed. If the government can't keep people safe in a building, within a 6 foot cell, how the hell does anyone in their right mind feel the government can keep our nation safe?

How can anyone fall for this when our own government says there will be more attacks. Being told there will be more attacks means the government can't stop them... even with the patriot act that's been in effect all this time. Comments anyone? Am I missing something?

Well what I find troubling is the degree to which Patriot Act provisions have been used for non-Patriot Act investigations since its initial adoption.

We were told it served the express purpose of protecting us against terrorists and making the nation safer from terrorist elements, and unfortunately so many naive legislators and citizens actually believed that'd be the case. That any potential it had to threaten the civil liberties of the populace on the whole were outweighed by the benefits it'd provide in protecting us from terrorism.

And yet the Patriot Act has been used more for matters of domestic crime and investigations completely unrelated to terrorism than it has to anything involving terrorism. 10, even 5 years ago, attempts to enforce Patriot Act-esque provisions would have been shot down by legislators and judges as blatant violations of civil liberties. Yet 9/11 changed that, removing from everyone rights they had prior to its passage.

I'd have liked to see the Patriot Act expressly set out and define its provisions as applying solely to terrorism-related investigations and nothing more. But that's not what happened. So everyone in this country is more at risk today of governmental action that would have been deemed unconstitutional and in violation of our rights just a few years ago.

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Originally Posted by BDBionic

So everyone in this country is more at risk today of governmental action that would have been deemed unconstitutional and in violation of our rights just a few years ago.

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Republicans.

I have to say.. that since I've been alive... a trend is showing that the Republicans come in, steal from the coffers of America, start wars.. then a democrat is elected.. calms things down.. brings back the troops.. and fixes the economy.

On a side note.. here in Australia every newscast the last couple days had pictures of John Howard (the Australian prime minister) visiting the white house and going to church with Bush. WHAT THE FUCK? They are sending a clear message to the world that they, as leaders of these countries, have common religious beliefs... that's bullshit! off the soapbox now :kiss: