For those who would deny that we are currently living in a police state, read the following and weep.
The Patriot Act in a Nutshell
Some of the fundamental changes to Americans' legal rights by the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks:
Freedom of association: To assist terror investigation, the government may monitor religious and political institutions without suspecting criminal activity.
Freedom of information: The government has closed once-public immigration hearings, has secretly detained hundreds of people without charges and has encouraged bureaucrats to resist public-records requests. "Sensitive" information has been removed from government Web sites.
Freedom of speech: The government may prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they tell anyone the government subpoenaed information related to a terror investigation.
Right to legal representation: The government may monitor conversations between attorneys and clients in federal prisons and deny lawyers to Americans accused of crimes.
Freedom from unreasonable searches: The government may search and seize Americans' papers and effects without probable cause to assist terror investigation.
Right to a speedy and public trial: The government may jail Americans indefinitely without a trial.
Right to liberty: Americans may be jailed without being charged or being able to confront witnesses against them. "Enemy combatants" have been held incommunicado and refused attorneys.
See: http://www.scn.org/...
(Emphasis and Italics Added)
And there's the following:
But critics of the administration's anti-terrorism tactics assert such use of the law is evidence the administration has sold the American public a false bill of goods, using terrorism as a guise to pursue a broader law-enforcement agenda.
"Within six months of passing the Patriot Act, the Justice Department was conducting seminars on how to stretch the new wiretapping provisions to extend them beyond terror cases," Dan Dodson, a spokesman for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, told The Associated Press earlier this month. "They say they want the Patriot Act to fight terrorism, then, within six months, they are teaching their people how to use it on ordinary citizens."
See: http://www.scn.org/...
Additionally:
The act also expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, thus enlarging the number of activities to which the USA PATRIOT Act’s expanded law enforcement powers can be applied. (Emphasis Added)
Please refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/...
One must wonder: In terms of depriving individuals of their "Basic Fundamental Rights," did the Soviet Union ever have laws as strict as these? As can clearly be seen, the Patriot Act can simply abolish the Bill of Rights.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: What happens, if and when Homeland Security labels the National Occupy Movement as a potential "Domestic Terrorism Organization?"
Well Folks, perhaps it already has.