This started out as a comment but since it is long... and I do have a lot to say about this... I guess I'll add it as a post.
Why is no one talking about this? Are Americans that short-attention spanned that we don't remember what this country was like before 9/11? People, the Patriot Act was a direct attack on our Constitution, Bill of Rights and the freedom we used to enjoy. We are no longer a free country, certainly not a democracy and our a full-fledged police state. Is that what we want? Does it make you feel safe knowing that armed thugs working for our government police our streets? Yes, I am referring to the police as armed thugs. Deal with it.
Disclaimer: If you live in a gated community or a predominantly white suburb or affluent rural area you probably won't understand any of this.
People, I live in an African-American neighborhood in an inner city and I'm telling you we've got to stop this "war on terror," "war on drugs," war-like, violent mentality NOW. We've got to restore our basic civil rights.
What we had in this country was very special. Many people around the world live in fear of their government. They don't dare criticize the police or federal officials. Is that what we want?
Recently, Mexico has been in the news as several students were murdered. Apparently, the police and some government officials were involved in their murder. We hear about these things elsewhere and assume it won't happen here. But not only can it happen here but it is happening here, right here in the USA!
We need to repeal the Patriot Act and restore our 4th Amendment right to be deemed innocent until proven guilty. The reason for the 4th Amendment was exactly this. Law enforcement officials will always have their prejudices and always make mistakes and always serve those in power. Political activists and people who might potentially become activists, i.e., poor people, disenfranchised people who might rebel, will always be targeted under a corrupt govt that exploits them. The wealthy will always have the money and resources to pay off the police and government officials in order to get what they want. The one thing we had going for us here in the US was that 4th Amendment. It stood to defend all of us--rich and poor, black and white, male and female, so that corrupt officials couldn't stop us for no reason, couldn't search us, couldn't threaten or intimidate us with their power.
The 4th Amendment ensured that we could not be searched or have our property searched or seized without a warrant. It some cases it may have made law enforcement's job more difficult and dangerous. That's a price we pay for freedom. And "democracy" is difficult. It is not a system for idiots who act without thinking. It is a system for intelligent people who are capable of solving problems and working out conflict.
And the reality is, we'd have less violence and crime if we had a more democratic, egalitarian system that didn't disenfranchise so many people. People are more likely to go along w/laws and their govt when they believe the laws were set up in their own best interest. They rebel once they see that's not the case. Once again, that is what we're seeing happen now, here in the US.
Because of the Patriot Act, the police are being militarized, armed w/military-grade weaponry and encouraged to be more aggressive. We need to stop blaming individual police officers and realize that it is the system that is to blame--the people on top who train the police officers below them to be aggressive and assume ppl are guilty until proven innocent.
Most disturbing is that it's been over 12 years since the Patriot Act was passed. A child of only 10 is now an adult. He/She won't remember what it was like to walk down the street without being monitored and tracked by surveillance cameras, to apply for a job without having to fill out a Homeland Security form (so that the govt can monitor who works for whom), to open up a bank account without the bank reporting back to Homeland Security about you and your earnings. This Pre-Patriot Act era was a time when we could approach the police (at least in most cities) and ask them for directions. It was a time when we thought that sometimes the police weren't aggressive enough, when we could call the police and they'd respond by telling us that unless we could prove someone was planning on doing us harm they could do nothing.
Never thought I'd miss those times. Never thought I'd see the day when the USA would so closely resemble the former Soviet Union. I guess I overestimated my fellow American. Because, I gotta tell ya', I'm shocked, certifiably horrified, by the complacency of the average US citizen. Are you really okay with being watched by surveillance cameras everywhere you go? Do you really think this is keeping you safe? Judging by how violent our police have become since this atmosphere of surveillance was created, why would you feel safer now?
Personally, I felt much, much safer when the police had less power, when we weren't under surveillance, in the (yes, I'll say it even though it makes me sound "old") good old days when we lived in a freer country than we do today.
Long before the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act, there once was a time when we were free, when people were happier, less stressed, and life was just a lot easier without all this law enforcement and fear. Perhaps one day I'll sit a grandchild on my knee and talk to them about the old days when the USA was a free country that set an example for the world. The child will look up at me with awe and might not even believe me. "Ah, there's grandma again, having another senior moment," she'll chuckle to herself. Because by then this country will be unrecognizable from what it once was.