Parties work together to revise the Patriot Act

[kana_marie]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/us/politics/patriot-act-faces-revisions-backed-by-both-parties.html?_r=0&referrer=

The 2 major parties are working together to make revisions to the Patriot Act. It has a lot of strong support, but there is still opposition coming from the far right. If the revisions are passed it will end the government obtaining phone and Internet records with out probable cause or a warrant.

 

[Redheart]

A revision of the patriot act . . . sounds good. But it so happens that anytime the government wants to revise the new "patriot act" they'll do it. All it takes some fear-mongering and they'll assure everyone that stripping away some of their civil liberties is all good for them, etc, etc. That's how it was done after the September 11 attacks.

 

[pwarbi]

I can't make my mind up when it comes to this. I do think that the government have every right to watch more closely what's going on and if this involves invading privacy then I guess that's something we will have to live with

On the other hand I don't know if they're using terrorist threat as just a smoke screen to be able to get their hands on peoples private details to be used for other reasons.

 

[kana_marie]

I can't make my mind up when it comes to this. I do think that the government have every right to watch more closely what's going on and if this involves invading privacy then I guess that's something we will have to live with

On the other hand I don't know if they're using terrorist threat as just a smoke screen to be able to get their hands on peoples private details to be used for other reasons.

All the spying and the military drills all over our own country, has me pretty convinced that terrorists from the Middle East are the least of the threats we're facing. I may just be paranoid, but I can't come up with one good reason for the urban military drills

 

[pwarbi]

The trouble is though, they will say well if you've done nothing wrong in the first place then you'll have nothing to worry about when we check up on you...

As for the urban drills I wouldn't think they're too much to worry about. Not just yet anyway...

 

[Redheart]

All the spying and the military drills all over our own country, has me pretty convinced that terrorists from the Middle East are the least of the threats we're facing. I may just be paranoid, but I can't come up with one good reason for the urban military drills

The reasons given to explain the necessity of military drills in cities aren't satisfactory. While talk about martial is also absurd, I believe that there's more to this than we are being told. Some people think there'll be mass protests in the country at some time [no one knows for sure if that's true] and the military might be deployed to quell the violence and these drills are preparing them for that.

 

[pwarbi]

I think a lot of people are thinking the same, but I very much doubt that the US would be stupid enough to use the military on its own people, no matter what the circumstances are.

 

[kana_marie]

The reasons given to explain the necessity of military drills in cities aren't satisfactory. While talk about martial is also absurd, I believe that there's more to this than we are being told. Some people think there'll be mass protests in the country at some time [no one knows for sure if that's true] and the military might be deployed to quell the violence and these drills are preparing them for that.

Well, it makes sense. How many riots have we seen in the past while? Even if we don't include the mess that happened with the Occupy movement, we are still seeing more riots breaking out than ever before in my life time.

I think a lot of people are thinking the same, but I very much doubt that the US would be stupid enough to use the military on its own people, no matter what the circumstances are.

i disagree. I think they will.

 

[pwarbi]

Really? Well if they do or they don't, I certainly think it's going to be as a last resort and other countries will be more inclined to disassociate themselves from this type of action.

 

[kana_marie]

Really? Well if they do or they don't, I certainly think it's going to be as a last resort and other countries will be more inclined to disassociate themselves from this type of action.

If they're pulling out the national guard and running urban military drills in our own urban areas i cant help but to think its a classic case of foreshadowing. If we were reading about all of this mess in a book I can't help but to think we would want to smack ourselves for not seeing the shit coming.

 

[pwarbi]

You might very well be right like I said, but if it does happen then I still think there would have to be an extreme reason behind it.

What kind of reasons would a government have do you think, to do something like that, and how would they be able to justify it?

 

[kana_marie]

You might very well be right like I said, but if it does happen then I still think there would have to be an extreme reason behind it.

What kind of reasons would a government have do you think, to do something like that, and how would they be able to justify it?

That's a good question!
That could justify with one, angry, scary looking scapegoat. Label them a terrorist and mention the terrorist cells operating in that area? They definitely need to go about really delicately. They really put the fear of god (or Allah) into everybody in the nation regarding terrorism. I don't see them using any other excuse. This is tried and tested and its become very apparent that the American people would give up any of their rights to support the war on terrorism. He'll, a lot of Americans would give up their rights, their first born, and their soul just to stop terrorism

 

[pwarbi]

Terrorism is certainly still a major issue in the US, in the world in fact and I do think that governments can use it to take advantage and push through laws that wouldn't be welcomed before.

Just how much freedom people are willing to give up though is an whole other issue.

 

[kana_marie]

Terrorism is certainly still a major issue in the US, in the world in fact and I do think that governments can use it to take advantage and push through laws that wouldn't be welcomed before.

Just how much freedom people are willing to give up though is an whole other issue.

As far as people giving up their rights and freedoms so they can feel more secure, it's a little annoying that these few people who think they're getting a good deal, and a false sense of security is more important than real freedom, are determining policy for the entire country. I've got dogs and guns, I don't need a military presence in my backyard.

 

[pwarbi]

And that's where the main problem lies I think. On the whole, people still believe that the government knows best and will blindly go along with everything they say.

In an ideal world then that should be the case and we should be able to trust whoever gets voted in to lead the country.

Sadly though, the world is far from ideal and personally, I wouldn't trust any politician to do the right thing at the moment.