The Police State Alive and Well in America, and Growing...
by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
We live in America. Free from fear of tyranny of the police state. Imbued with certain rights and legal safeguards protecting us from the abuse of authority. Or so we thought...
Whether liberal or conservative, republican or democrat, independent or libertarian this should send chills up your spine. We should all be thankful for Congressman Markey's publication of this information. In the aftermath of 911, the subsequent enactment of the Patriot Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, we are, as some warned losing our right to privacy and perhaps the protection of this right under our laws.
The slippery slope GWB put the nation on will continue to get more slippery as Leviathan finds new and ever more intrusive ways to monitor the activities of the citizens of the nation. Which of course ultimately leads to more control and a further loss of liberties.
George Oswell's 1984 is arriving in America. Albeit a bit later than he had imagined. The question is; will we stand for any further erosion of our rights?
Via: Memeorandum
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny
We live in America. Free from fear of tyranny of the police state. Imbued with certain rights and legal safeguards protecting us from the abuse of authority. Or so we thought...
Congressman Ed Markey
July 9, 2012 - Congressman releases first-ever accounting of responses from wireless carriers that indicate sweeping personal data requests from law enforcement agencies.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the first-ever accounting of its kind, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) has found that in 2011, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies made more than 1.3 million requests of wireless carriers for the cell phone records of consumers, and that number is increasing every year. Last month, Rep. Markey queried nine mobile wireless carriers about their policies and practices for sharing their customers’ mobile phone information with law enforcement agencies after a report in the New York Times reported that law enforcement was routinely requesting consumers cell phone records, sometimes with little judicial oversight and no consumer knowledge. The responses received by Rep. Markey were startling in the volume and scope of requests made by law enforcement, including requests for “cell tower dumps” in which carriers provide all the phones numbers of cell users that connect with a tower during a discreet period of time, including information on innocent people. According to the carriers, all requests were made pursuant to a legal warrant or granted due to an emergency situation in which an individual was in imminent danger.
"We cannot allow privacy protections to be swept aside with the sweeping nature of these information requests, especially for innocent consumers,” said Rep. Markey, senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and co-Chair of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus. “Law enforcement agencies are looking for a needle, but what are they doing with the haystack? We need to know how law enforcement differentiates between records of innocent people, and those that are subjects of investigation, as well as how it handles, administers, and disposes of this information.” {Read More}
Whether liberal or conservative, republican or democrat, independent or libertarian this should send chills up your spine. We should all be thankful for Congressman Markey's publication of this information. In the aftermath of 911, the subsequent enactment of the Patriot Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, we are, as some warned losing our right to privacy and perhaps the protection of this right under our laws.
The slippery slope GWB put the nation on will continue to get more slippery as Leviathan finds new and ever more intrusive ways to monitor the activities of the citizens of the nation. Which of course ultimately leads to more control and a further loss of liberties.
George Oswell's 1984 is arriving in America. Albeit a bit later than he had imagined. The question is; will we stand for any further erosion of our rights?
Via: Memeorandum
No, this nation will not "stand," it will "bend over."
ReplyDeleteYes Gorges, it seems this is what we always do anymore. Just bend over and take it.
DeleteSad, indeed. Very sad.
This is why sweeping programs like the Patriot Act are bad news, filled as they are with extrajudicial abominations.
ReplyDeleteIf law enforcement needs this information, they should have to follow the standard search warrant procedures.
It's a sign of our strange times that every now and then a hard-core statist like Markey actually gets it right once in a blue moon and comes down on the side of liberty.
Indeed, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
DeleteLes, when you have people saying they don't care if a "chip" is embedded into their arms to make "transactions" easier, I'd say this will just get a "meh" from most of society.
ReplyDeleteGovernment doesn't take our freedom and liberty in one fell swoop. They take a little at a time and before you know it, they have it all.
And you're right, it's sad because people are so freaken blind, and stupid.
Yes Pam you are right. Government, at least our government does it incrementally, gradually over time because most people never notice. It is as the statists and oligarchs wish it to be. And it is working.
DeletePeople in general are not stupid. They are however blind because they choose not to see.
"Will we STAND for any further erosion of our rights?" Feels like we're LYING DOWN now...and being rolled over.
ReplyDeleteIf I was a conspiracy girl, I'd say 9/11 opened the door for all kinds of freedoms being taken away and quite thoughtfully, too. We DO need to be safer, we DO need to have people checked at the airport, there ARE people whose phone calls should be interceded if we have enough information on them.."better safe than sorry." And we ask "but at what cost?"
That's the tough one.
Z - I refer you to Pam's comment. She hit the nail on the head.
DeleteWas this really news to anyone? I mean, didn't we all kind of know this was going on for a long time now?
ReplyDeleteThis is why we have to beware of hawkish "patriots." We are humans, not avian predators.
JMJ
I am a patriot. I therefore value my freedom and liberty. I applaud Markey for his stand on this.
DeleteAnd, I essentially agree with your final comment. Because I understand what you mean.
The fact that the Patriot Act passed 99-1 in the Senate shows a) just how crazy the entire country got after 9/11 and b) just how much that the politicians will cater to that craziness in order to get reelected.
ReplyDeleteQuite true.
Delete