Some people still don't understand the threat in the Patriot Act and Thank God some do.

When fighting the bad guys it always pays to have a bigger weapon than they have. Like the popular expression says: "If they bring a knife, we'll bring a gun." But what happens if you create a powerful weapon and let the "bad guys" use it? That is what The Patriot Act was and is, a very powerful weapon. So powerful you would have to worry that the "bad guys" ever got to use it. So who are the "good guys" and who are the "bad guys"? That's a really good question and the answer is very simple. The vast majority of American citizens are the "good guys". We obey the laws, show love and respect for our flag and our country and serve in our Armed Forces to protect us. I'll bet that you think you know who the "bad guys" are and if you have those radical Muslim terrorists who hijacked four airliners on Sept. 11, 2001 in mind, you would be right. 

It was in the months after that attack that Congress first put together a hastily drawn law to help weed out and identify other terrorist groups. They called the law The Patriot Act. America had been attacked and we were at war and our politicians had to do something about it. But then we had a few elections afterward and some new people took control of our government and things began to change. The new people (the Dept. of Homeland Security) decided to identify who they thought would be the type of people that would become future terrorists and harm Americans. They started saying that people who followed the Pro-Life movement and had bumper stickers on their cars condemning abortion were dangerous. They began to say that anyone who supported our Second Amendment rights were bad. They said that proponents of third party political movements, even though unnamed were considered to be Libertarian's or Conservatives and maybe even the Tea Party, were suspected of having a radical agenda. In other words, these new people running our government were watching - us!

So this big powerful weapon called The Patriot Act, that gave whoever held it the power to legally deprive every American citizen of their Constitutional rights, was now in the hands of the "bad guys". The same "bad guys" who were bowing before the King of Saudi Arabia (home of 14 of the 19 radical Muslim terrorists who killed 3000 people on 9-11), telling the world that America was wrong for our foreign policy defending freedom and saying that communist dictators like Hugo Chavez was a friend. In an instant, America stood on the brink of becoming a totalitarian third-world banana Republic complete with a Secret Police spying on everyone.

In case you are unfamiliar with just what The Patriot Act was able to do, here is a brief list of some of the worst provisions:

• Roving, warrantless wiretaps of virtually EVERY form of electronic communication used by U.S. citizens.

• Secret federal searches without warrants OR knowledge of the resident.

• Blanket warrants for the search and seizure of all library records, without naming individual suspects or providing probable cause.

• Judicial warrants replaced with “National Security Letters” signed by unaccountable Obama Administration bureaucrats and gag orders for those served with these letters which make it illegal to tell anyone about it -- including your spouse and your priest!

• Drastic expansion of the definition of “domestic terrorism,” which is sure to include gun owners.

• Expands asset seizure to permit the taking of assets from anyone “suspected” of terrorism, even if that person is NEVER charged or sent to trial

• Lone wolf provisions which allow the government to spy on ANYONE even if they’re not associated with a terrorist organization or foreign national, without due process or notification.

Last night the House of Representatives were called upon to authorize an extension of The Patriot Act. It failed.

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 26

(Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined)

Click the above link to read the names and the votes they cast.

      H R 514      2/3 YEA-AND-NAY      8-Feb-2011      7:04 PM
      QUESTION:  On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass
      BILL TITLE: To extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 relating to access to business records, individual terrorists as agents of foreign powers, and roving wiretaps until December 8, 2011

	Yeas	Nays	PRES	NV
Republican	210	26		5
Democratic	67	122		4
Independent
TOTALS	277	148		9

But worst of all were the number of dimwitted Republicans who voted in favor of extending The Patriot Act. One of those dimwits is my own Congressman Geoff Davis from the 4th C.D. in Kentucky. Mr. Davis is a retired Army Ranger who had a penchant for always calling the president his "Commander in Chief", a term that applies only to active duty military personnel. Even after we sent him to Congress to represent the people of Northern Kentucky he still called the president his Commander in Chief and I wondered if he does that today. Did he feel his place in Congress was to support the president or the people of his district? You may recall earlier posts here on October 19, 22 and 24, 2009 about an unpleasant experience I had following a letter I sent to his office and, if not, you may be interested in reading them for the first time because they go to show how mindless some politicians can be even when they think they're doing the right thing.

Stupidity is killing the Republican Party 

Stupid is as Stupid Does 

An open letter to Geoff Davis, (R, 4th CD KY)

If anyone still fails to understand my opposition to the threat of The Patriot Act I would like to remind you of a good piece of advise that was given by Benjamin Franklin:
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

Thank GOD some of the people we sent to Washington had the right mind to deny this terrible threat another extension.