Clarifying the Patriot Act

In my last article entitled Telecoms Won't Talk, I briefly outlined that the Bush administration illegally collected private information from telecoms about their users due partly to the Patriot Act. I briefly mentioned it, but I would actually like to go more in depth, considering it concerns all American Citizen's privacy, which, I assume is of great importance to everyone.

The Patriot Act, or by my standards, "the worst law ever," actually stands for the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001," passed by Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush only 43 days after the September 11th attacks. Its main purpose was to fight terrorism, and it did so by increasing the authority of U.S. law enforcement agencies to search telephone and email correspondence, medical and financial records, and eased restriction on foreign intelligence. It also made it easier to deport foreigners who were suspected of terrorism-related acts. The Patriot Act was passed in large margin by both the House and the Senate, making it, for the most part, a unanimous decision in Congress.

Among many complaints of the Patriot Act include, the weakening of civil liberties, which is in specific, the right to privacy which I explained in the previous article, an indefinite detaining of terrorism-suspected immigrants, searches in which the owner or occupant was not previously notified or asked for permission, and the overuse of "National Security Letters," which basically allowed the FBI to search private records without a court order. Obviously enough, several Federal Courts have ruled the provisions in the Patriot Act unconstitutional.

In my thoughts, those who had the wherewithal to oppose this act before it came to pass were the smart ones. Now, Congress is trying to make up for its mistakes as we have seen with them trying to put the blame on the Bush administration and the telecoms themselves. However, a law has never come to pass which Congress has not voted and given its permission. Therefore, my previous article about the telecoms may have been somewhat biased. Congress has nowhere else to put the blame on but themselves, for if it were not for their "unanimous" decision, the Patriot Act would have ceased to exist. I understand the panic post September 11th, but I always have to wonder if this wasn't used as an excuse to make legal what the FBI and government law enforcement agencies have been doing for quite some time in a "hush hush" illegal sort of manner.

Not only does the Patriot Act clearly support racism, but it also makes our country, which is classically known as the"melting pot," appear as no better than a mild form of the Nazi Regime. A picture of George W. Bush with a swastika on his chest comes to mind. Although there have been several "reauthorization acts" to try and nullify some of the provisions set forth by the Patriot Act, no clear end to the Patriot Act has been established as of yet. We are still all in danger of privacy infringement, yet most of us would never know if had actually happened thanks to the Patriot Act.

My hope, is that the Patriot Act will find its CLEAR end sometime soon. Stay posted, and if you would like to read up on the Patriot Act and understand it in its entirety go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USA_PATRIOT_Act.

Telecoms won't Talk

An Associated Press article on MSNBC.com entitled Telecoms won't talk about surveillance, outlines the eminent trouble that telecom companies, such as Verizon and AT&T, will be in for participating in Bush administration surveillance programs without court orders. According to the article, these telecom companies have refused to tell Congress whether they gave U.S. Intelligence Agencies access to private information including "calling circles" and subscriber information.

In the midst of all of this, the House is making plans to consider a new government eavesdropping bill, which could penalize the telecoms that illegally provided information for U.S. Intelligence Agencies. The article states the Bush administration has said "the companies cooperated in good faith because of their patriotism and desire to protect the country in the wake of September 11th." Little good their "patriotism" did them now.

I have a hard time believing that telecom companies would willingly give up sensitive information, September 11th or not, knowing that would risk them their company's reputation. Patriotism in this occassion most likely had nothing to do with it. I think that because our privacy rights have been so blatantly violated post September 11th, that Congress is now backtracking and looking for someone to lay the blame on, whether it be the Bush Administration or the telecoms themselves.

A lot of this comes from the Patriot Act. Congress, understandably, panicked after September 11th and did everything in its power to make sure that Americans were protected from terrorism, including taking away the right to privacy that we fought so hard for we had to label it a penumbra of rights pieced together from several different amendments. In its wake, however, by panicking Congress may have passed one of the worst bills of all time in the Patriot Act. Now, as they're trying to make up for it, they're blaming the Bush Administration for its abused use.

To be quite honest, while I don't believe the telecoms should have helped the Bush Administration commit privacy violations through non court appointed surveillance methods, I can't blame them for staying mum as the issue heats up. The longer they stay quiet, the more the Bush Administration has to answer for, which includes protecting the telecoms from which it solicited information.

If you're at all concerned about your privacy, or you just want to read more about this article and stay informed on the development of the House's new eavesdropping bill, go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21322332/from/ET/