The Patriot Act
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June 19th, 2011

The Patriot Act

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Discussion (10)¬

  1. sugarkat says:

    "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
    -Benjamin Franklin, wit, polyglot, inventor, postmaster, journalist, whore-monger, and Founding Father

    As someone who was there when the Towers fell, who has the ashes of the dead and the dust of WTC in her lungs, I cannot condone the continued systematic violation and stripping of our rights as citizens for supposed security. TSA has stopped nothing as it's taken naked photos and groped us: it's been passengers and alert stewardesses/air marshals who've stopped the recent attempts. NYPD stopping people and going through their bags at Union Square without cause or warrant has not stymied one terrorist attempt. Stalking Muslim students because they're Muslim is just plain wrong…and brought no intelligence to aid the hyper-armed NYPD in its defense of my beloved city. I've known innumerable wonderful Americans, men and women, who happened to be Muslim, yet our country has decided to target them in a way that reminds me of the shameful treatment of Japanese Americans during WWII. And all of these attacks on our Constitutionally-supported, God-given rights have not stopped one terrorist attack or attempt; it was the traditional methods that got the most heinous attempts, and good, upstanding citizens of the world who caught the rest. The Orwellian PATRIOT Act and the actions of our elected officials and those granted secret powers is horrifying and offensive to anyone who loves this country and its ideals and respects its Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Besides which, I don't see any of the Christian extremist groups, like the ones behind the Oklahoma City attack–the only one to target children specifically–being in the crosshairs of DHS and its tentacles. The motivations behind the PATRIOT Act and other such behavior are unAmerican and xenophobic, and worst of all, nothing they've done follows the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. I'm sick and tired of the dead of 9/11 being an excuse for the violations of our basic rights, the violations of our nation's laws, the violations of our ethics and morals. They deserve to be honored, not desecrated like this. It's enough to make God weep, or at least John Adams.

  2. Jim says:

    Thank you, Darrin, for having the courage to call Obama out on this.

  3. art says:

    I've read your strip on and off for a while and I thank you for calling out Obama for being another democrat who pretends to be a liberal. A true liberal would oppose the Patriot Act today and back when it was initiated. The mindless faux liberals such as ChayaFradle won't get it, but some literate individuals who don't jerk off to Pelosi in their free time will.

    • SuburbanEcology says:

      Art, while I don't agree with ChayaFradle on this particular subject and agree with you — I opposed the Patriot Act then and I oppose it now — I don't think we need to stoop to name-calling.

      Chaya has contributed many thoughtful comments here and has demonstrated herself to be more liberal than me at times. One of the earmarks of being liberal is the capability to be reasoned with. Chaya is far from being "mindless" or "faux".

      IF you are so incensed by the comment, perhaps you should argue your point rather than simply making this a blind litmus test to tell the difference between the "true" and "false" liberals.

      The argument would demonstrate how you are truly literate and mindful about being liberal.

      The Patriot Act litmus test … does not.

      • art says:

        liberalism is about liberty. you can't compromise on liberty. favoring the patriot act, but supporting liberal measures in other areas is akin to asking that you be free and enslaved.

        • SuburbanEcology says:

          Thank you, art.

          As Benjamin Franklin wrote, "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

        • ChayaFradle says:

          Art, if you had to make a choice between you or your family being killed, or having the government not be intrusive into your life, which would you choose? Are you saying you'd stand on principal and beg people to strike you dead to protect your ideas? Would you stand still and let someone massacre your family? What if the enemy was invisible, and the only way to find them was to spray paint them to make them visible? We still, today, have terror cells in the United States just waiting for a signal to do their "job" against us. You know, it was much easier for the Feds when our internal enemies were only the Mafia or other visible groups. What Obama did was to have a change of heart after getting into a position in which he was informed of very serious matters that are probably being kept secret from us so we won't be frightened out of our wits. I can give an educated insight on this forum that if OBAMA, of all people, decided to change his position, it had to be for a VERY important reason. Do you not realize this? If not, I have to ask why are you so blind to this type of understanding of how people can change their minds when presented with new information. Do you think you know everything that Homeland Security has found out?

      • ChayaFradle says:

        OMG, it's June 29th and I just now read this very beautiful posting you did, Suburban. Thank you so much for your protection of my character. I think if I were much younger, I would have been of the same opinion as you, Darrin, etc. re: the patriot act. However, now, in my senior years, I do feel differently. I'm still liberal about some aspects of politics, but I've had close contact with someone who did disguise himself as a regular citizen and was probably a part of a sleeper cell. Because I knew him personally before 9-11 and noticed various activities he did which were questionable with others who met with him secretly (they thought how cute I was and how I am an invisible nothing of no consequence), I put two and two together afterwards and prayed that he and his friends weren't a part of the sleeper cells. The only way for the government to find out who is in a sleeper cell is to make an EXCEPTION to the rule of civil rights. I am now realizing that for every law, for every rule, there MUST be a way to have an exception. Also, if the rule ends up not working, it needs to be tweaked or amended. Bottom line is this: I do not want to be blown up or bombed!!!! If some people get their civil rights taken away, then that is a price I am glad to pay for the privilege of being safer and more secure living in this country. If the government wants to listen in on my phone calls or check my e mails, and I know that I am doing nothing wrong, then I really do not care. In fact, I welcome the intrusion. As I said, back when I young, this would absolutely NOT have been my feeling. I would have felt exactly as you do. Where my own safety and the safety of my family is at stake, this is when I bend my own philosophy. I do view safety as a higher priority than civil rights. Thank you again, however, for being so understanding and non-judgmental.

  4. Jeff says:

    No, I like the power hungry tyrant tag. That fits Obama perfectly!

  5. ChayaFradle says:

    Another option than a power hungry tyrant is KNOWLEDGE. Obama knows more now of the intimate daily dealings of the terror cells hiding in American cities than he did back when he spoke against those things. He knows better now,