Rakeesh
08-31-04, 06:57 PM
Before I start, I want to say that I am rather neutral on the Patriot act; I am neither totally for nor against it. If I had the ability to vote for it in either direction, I simply wouldn't vote at all.
Now, when somebody tells me how bad something is, I always take it with a grain of salt unless I hear the argument of the other side along with it. That is what I have had to do with most of the complaints coming from the left, because they literally saturate every communications medium out there with words akin to crying.
Fortunately Ashcroft (one who I also have a neutral oppinion of) has outlined a report containing his argument for the patriot act quite well.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5431486
Heres the important bits of the article:
The report says that in the period starting with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and ending May 5, terrorism investigations by the Justice Department resulted in charges against 310 people, with 179 convictions or guilty pleas. The Patriot Act, it says, was instrumental in these cases.
It allowed intelligence agents to share with FBI criminal investigators evidence that an anonymous letter sent to the FBI had come from a person with ties to al-Qaida. That letter began the investigation into an alleged terror cell in Lackawanna, N.Y., that has resulted in six guilty pleas.
The same information-sharing authority was used against members of an alleged terror cell in Portland, Ore., that an undercover informant said was preparing for possible attacks against Jewish schools or synagogues. Continued surveillance under the Patriot Act of one suspect led to six others, who likely would have scattered or fled if the first suspect had been arrested right away.
Terror financing provisions of the law were used in numerous cases, including charges against a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on charges of being an unlicensed money transmitter. The same authority has been used to prosecute people illegally sending money to Iraq, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and India.
Powers permitted under the Patriot Act have also been used in investigations involving potential school bomb attacks, computer hackers, child pornography, violent fugitives and illegal weapons sales. In one case, electronic communications authorities of the Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agencies to identify a person who had sent 200 threatening letters laced with white powder in Lafayette, La., the department said.
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but doesn't it sound kinda like this thing has prevented another 9/11? Many will argue that it doesn't, and that all of these guys were really just innocents that had their privacy violated, but it looks pretty damn convincing to me.
Now, when somebody tells me how bad something is, I always take it with a grain of salt unless I hear the argument of the other side along with it. That is what I have had to do with most of the complaints coming from the left, because they literally saturate every communications medium out there with words akin to crying.
Fortunately Ashcroft (one who I also have a neutral oppinion of) has outlined a report containing his argument for the patriot act quite well.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5431486
Heres the important bits of the article:
The report says that in the period starting with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and ending May 5, terrorism investigations by the Justice Department resulted in charges against 310 people, with 179 convictions or guilty pleas. The Patriot Act, it says, was instrumental in these cases.
It allowed intelligence agents to share with FBI criminal investigators evidence that an anonymous letter sent to the FBI had come from a person with ties to al-Qaida. That letter began the investigation into an alleged terror cell in Lackawanna, N.Y., that has resulted in six guilty pleas.
The same information-sharing authority was used against members of an alleged terror cell in Portland, Ore., that an undercover informant said was preparing for possible attacks against Jewish schools or synagogues. Continued surveillance under the Patriot Act of one suspect led to six others, who likely would have scattered or fled if the first suspect had been arrested right away.
Terror financing provisions of the law were used in numerous cases, including charges against a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on charges of being an unlicensed money transmitter. The same authority has been used to prosecute people illegally sending money to Iraq, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and India.
Powers permitted under the Patriot Act have also been used in investigations involving potential school bomb attacks, computer hackers, child pornography, violent fugitives and illegal weapons sales. In one case, electronic communications authorities of the Patriot Act allowed law enforcement agencies to identify a person who had sent 200 threatening letters laced with white powder in Lafayette, La., the department said.
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but doesn't it sound kinda like this thing has prevented another 9/11? Many will argue that it doesn't, and that all of these guys were really just innocents that had their privacy violated, but it looks pretty damn convincing to me.