Bush: Patriot Act defends liberty

[Khephra]

JUDY KEEN GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
HERSHEY, Pa. -- President Bush defended the Patriot Act on Monday and said none of the controversial anti-terrorism law's provisions should be allowed to expire.

"The Patriot Act defends our liberty," he said at a convention of township supervisors and emergency service personnel. "It's essential law."

Bush said the legislation should be expanded to allow subpoenas in terrorism cases to be issued without approval of a judge or grand jury, to allow terror suspects to be held without bail and to make sabotage of defense or nuclear facilities that results in loss of life punishable by death.

Critics say the law encroaches on civil liberties, but Bush called it necessary to prevent future attacks. "It's a law that is making America safer. ... It doesn't make any sense" to scale it back, he said.

more...............

http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040420/topstories/31237.shtml

[boobooday]

1. Freedom is slavery

Black is white
Up is down
War is peace

Don't you people understand yet? How many times does George (Orwell) Bush have to tell you?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[alarimer]

2. Is he out of his mind?

I guess the plan is to do away with the Bill of Rights all together.

[sniffa]

3. nov. 2, can't come soon enough

i can't wait for him to pack his bags.

[TahitiNut]

4. "Just deposit your liberty with us and we'll protect it."

After all, we really can't protect our own liberties as well as the Liberty Bank, right? :eyes:

[Khephra]

7. Maybe there's a "Liberty Lock-Box"?

[UpInArms]

5. related article: First Foreigners, Then Americans

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,63126,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_2

excerpt:

Most Americans believed the powers would never be applied to them, according to Georgetown University law professor David Cole. But Cole says history shows that once the American government goes after foreigners, it's only a matter of time before it turns the same laws on Americans.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Cole is a volunteer staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and teaches at Georgetown University Law Center alongside Patriot Act author Viet Dinh, who has called Cole "the Clarence Darrow of his generation" for his defense of underdogs.

Wired News spoke with Cole about his new book, Enemy Aliens, and efforts to revise the Patriot Act.

Wired News: Critics have accused the government of overreaching with the Patriot Act. The government in turn has accused critics of misinterpreting and mischaracterizing the law to generate fear about it. Have critics overreacted?

David Cole: The Patriot Act has become a symbol for a much broader range of concerns about this administration's abuse of civil liberties in the war on terrorism. Many of those are real abuses that warrant real concern, but don't stem specifically from the Patriot Act. Rather, they stem from initiatives that the Bush administration undertook outside the authority of the Patriot Act, such as the mass preventive detention campaign that John Ashcroft undertook after Sept. 11, which to date has led to over 5,000 foreign nationals being detained.

...more...

[July]

6. Which is the law of the land?

The Bill of Rights or the Patriot Act? They contradict each other, so which is it?

[bluedog]

8. why is he stumping on that?

I heard only 10% of this act is up for renewal at the end of*****2005**** so whats the hurry? This has to be the only thing that his handlers think he can run on....when he speaks about terror.he doesn't need any notes.he has that stump down pat......

.and it keeps terror in the mind of his sheep!! Thats why Kerry needs a VP that knows about foreign policy and a good defense back ground.......

[demon67]

10. Related Question -- Why isn't Kerry running against it?

For two days, every White House surrogate has been out there pushing the Patriot Act. I have not yet seen a single Democratic officeholder, including Sen. Kerry, offer a rebuttal. Maybe the news just isn't carrying it. Where exactly does Kerry stand on this? Will the Dems in the Senate approve the Patriot Act again? Where is the loyal opposition?

[leesa]

12. Good question! There is widespread, STRONG opposition to

the P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. Why not play it for what it's worth? A lot of our congressional Dems probably think it's a good idea.
Why is he pushing it? I think it's the springboard for martial law after the October surprise. He'll say, "See we need to make it stronger"

[Walt Starr]

11. Because if you're against the "Patriot Act", then of course you're

Unpatriotic!

That's why they named the abomination that way.

[0007]

9. Welcome home, I've wonder many times where you were

[Jack Rabbit]

13. Bush hates us for our freedoms

[Q]

14. In other words...

...fuck the Bill of Rights. Holding 'suspects' without due process is tyranny against equal justice and the 'rule of law'. There is no 'defence of liberty' in the Patriot Act...just a means for the government to pull anyone off the street as a 'suspect' and hold them without trial.

- What happens when the government starts putting political enemies in prison without having to show any kind of evidence of guilt? There is a reason why they're called 'suspects'...meaning that they're innocent until PROVEN guilty.

[Jack Rabbit]

15. The Patriot Act should be repealed

In the wake of September 11, an unelected president found a pretext to stifle dissent against his regime. The Patriot Act is part of that scheme. It is not designed to protect Americans from attack; it is designed to protect Bush from criticism and scrutiny.

The Patriot Act must be repealed. The proper response to it until then is to undermine it with information and even outright civil disobedience.

Inform the public that under this abomination the federal government has the right to read your e-mail without a warrant and to find out from your local public library what you've been reading and threaten the librarian with penalties if one is informed.

Many communities, such as Oakland, California and even some states have passed ordinances condemning the Patriot Act and even prohibiting public employees from cooperating with Patriot Act investigations. More such ordinances should be passed.

Hopefully, we will start seeing public employees opening breaking the law and letting those who come under investigation know that they are targets of the Bush junta.

[rman]

16. ...by restricting it

I think we've been fooled by that scam a few times to many.

"You are encircled by monstrous dangers, give us power over you freedom so we may protect you" - Al Gore describing 'politics of fear'.

[qanda]

17. He meant to say that it defies liberty

eom

[ixion]

18. the unPATRIOTic act is unconstitutional

eom

[JoFerret]

19. Same way handcuffs promote freedom

and all other Orwellian notions.