Here we go again......
Posted: 2003-11-26 05:06pm
http://www.spywareinfo.net/nov25,2003#whatfreedom
Posted for Einy.What if I said the FBI could order your bank, ISP and telephone company to turn over all records and logs relating to you without a valid warrant, then force everyone involved to cover it up?
That doesn't sound right because the Fourth Amendment should prevent that sort of thing. Let's say the FBI does an end run around the Constitution by issuing itself a so-called "national security letter" which states that the records they want are relevant to an investigation into terrorism. The FBI wouldn't need to show probable cause, have any evidence of this or even consult a judge first.
The organization that is forced to turn these records over is issued a gag order and kept from revealing the subpoena's existence to anyone, including the subject of the investigation. Violating that gag order would be worth a trip to federal prison for the offender.
If I were to tell you that, would you think I had lost my mind? Or would you think I needed to loosen my tin foil hat? Certainly someone has gone mad, but unfortunately it isn't me. The outrageous scenario above is exactly what can happen now.
The Justice Department, unable to have the so-called "PATRIOT II Act" passed in the face of public opposition, has performed an end run around the legislative process. Congress is infamous for inserting unpopular legislation into bills that are totally unrelated in order to sneak them through with a minimum of opposition and debate. That is exactly what has just occurred in the United States.
This article at Wired explains it better than I ever could. When I read it, all the blood drained from my face and I thought I was going to faint and wake up thirty years in the past, in the good old U.S.S.R.
Wired.com Article: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html
If you would like to know if your congressional representative voted for or against this.... insanity.... the voting record is located at http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.exe ... number=649. The voting records are still a matter of public record, at least until they decide to do away with that as well.
