Even in our polarized and right vs. left political paradigm, there is one thing both republicans and democrats can agree on: The federal government should have vast snooping powers and conduct mass surveillance on everyone. They simply disagree over who should be in charge of abusing those excessive powers.
The impeachment circus did one thing successfully. It took attention from the government’s mass surveillance programs that are constantly expanded. As Reason proposed: If Democrats really feared Donald Trump’s exercise of the powers of the presidency, why would they propose extending the surveillance powers of the controversial Patriot Act?
House Democrats have successfully slipped an unqualified renewal of the draconian PATRIOT Act into an emergency funding bill – voting near-unanimously for sweeping surveillance carte blanche that was the basis for the notorious NSA program.
Buried on the next-to-last page of the Continuing Appropriations Act, meant to keep the government’s lights on and dated yesterday, is the following language:
Section 102(b)(1) of the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (50 U.S.C. 101805 note) is amended by striking “December 15, 2019” and inserting “March 15, 2020”.
This relatively innocuous language pushes back the sunset provision of the Patriot Act by three months, leaving its vast powers in the hands of a president who Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden charges with “failure to uphold basic democratic principles,” who House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused of “alarming connections and conduct with Russia” and, joined by Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, says is making an attempt to “shred the Constitution.” –Reason
If democrats honestly believed that Trump was all of the things he’s being accused of, why trust him with the Patriot Act?
The American Civil Liberties Union agrees, calling the Patriot Act “an overnight revision of the nation’s surveillance laws that vastly expanded the government’s authority to spy on its own citizens, while simultaneously reducing checks and balances on those powers like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court.”
Attempts to roll back the spying powers of the government have all failed. This power is only expanding and it’s going to get harder for people to protect themselves against the government when they abuse this power. The last time (in 2018) libertarian-leaning Republicans and a handful of Democrats wanted to strip the government of some of its mass surveillance power, it failed.
“It became quickly apparent that leading Democrats intended to side with Trump and against those within their own party who favored imposing safeguards on the Trump administration’s ability to engage in domestic surveillance,” The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald wrote at the time. “The most bizarre aspect of this spectacle was that the Democrats who most aggressively defended Trump’s version of the surveillance bill—the Democrats most eager to preserve Trump’s spying powers as virtually limitless—were the very same Democratic House members who have become media stars this year by flamboyantly denouncing Trump as a treasonous, lawless despot in front of every television camera they could find.”
But…but…but…on teevee the snooping spooks are always the good guys getting rid of the bad guys. Same with the poleece.
Don’t you watch any teevee shows?
What? No teevee you say? How do you figure out which way to point your furniture?
The Government is not your friend!
“The federal government should have vast snooping powers and conduct mass surveillance on everyone…”
This is a misunderstanding of our LEGITIMATE government, the people who SERVE WITHIN our governments – state and general (fed) – are NOT the government, but are put into place to carry out the duties of the branch or office within a branch, all put into writing so that those who serve, and the American people can know EXACTLY what authority they have. It is also important to know that PRECEDENT cannot be used to change the original intent written into the Constitution, just because they have been breaking the supreme contract and supreme law that they serve under does not make it law, it is just more criminal, (in my opinion) treasonous actions on their part.
The supreme LAW says that those who serve within our governments do NOT have that authority, that only REASONABLE searches and seizures are allowed. “Reasonable searches” are defined within the US Constitution, the 4th Amendment, which says that they may only be done:
1. With a LAWFUL WARRANT;
2. Based upon PROBABLE CAUSE (meaning there must be a reasonable suspicion that a crime has been committed);
3. Which has been subject to DUE PROCESS REVIEW (Oath or Affirmation) before being issued;
4. The warrant must PARTICULARLY describing the PLACE to be search, AND
5. PARTICULARLY describing the PERSONS or THINGS to be seized.
Prove to the American people that “vast snooping powers and conduct mass surveillance” meets the above lawful requirements for all those who serve within our governments that want to implement these unconstitutional things before implementation. It is CRIMINAL for anyone who serves within our governments to implement these things. Let me list some of the crimes those who serve within our governments are committing… They are required by the US Constitution to take and KEEP the Oath, which requires those serving within our governments to “Support and defend” the US Constitution; the US President is required by Oath to “Preserve, Protect, and Defend” the US Constitution.
Federal law regulating oath of office by government officials – state and federal – is divided into four parts along with an executive order that further defines the law for purposes of enforcement.
5 U.S.C. 3331, provides the text of the actual oath of office the three branches of our government, the military, all law enforcement, the heads of the States, all federal employees are required to take before assuming office.
5 U.S.C. 3333 requires the three branches of our government, the military, all law enforcement, the heads of the States, all federal employees sign an affidavit that they have taken the oath of office required by 5 U.S.C. 3331 and have not or will not violate that oath of office during their tenure of office.
18 U.S.C. 1918 provides penalties for violation of oath of office described in 5 U.S.C. 7311 which include: (1) removal from office and; (2) confinement or a fine.
5 U.S.C. 7311 explicitly makes it a federal criminal offense for anyone employed in the United States Government to “advocate the overthrow of our constitutional form of government”.
The definition of “advocate” is further specified in Executive Order 10450 for the purposes of enforcement supplements 5 U.S.C. 7311. Executive Order 10450 provision specifies it is a violation of 5 U.S.C. 7311 for any person taking the oath of office to advocate “the alteration … of the form of the government of the United States by unconstitutional means.”
It is important to realize that our form of government is defined by the Constitution of the United States. That according to Executive Order 10450 and 5 U.S. 7311 any act taken by government officials who have taken the oath of office prescribed by 5 U.S.C. 3331 which alters the form of government other then by amendment, is a criminal violation of the 5 U.S.C. 7311.
Brookfield Construction Company V. Stewart 284 F Sup. 94: “An officer who acts in violation of the constitution ceases to represent the government.”
18 USC § 241 – Conspiracy against rights: If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same; or
If two or more persons go in disguise on the highway, or on the premises of another, with intent to prevent or hinder his free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege so secured
They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Title 42 U.S.C. § 1986: “Action for neglect to prevent conspiracy: Every person who, having knowledge that any of the wrongs conspired to be done, and mentioned in the preceding section [42 USCS § 1985], are about to be committed, and having power to prevent or aid in preventing the commission of the same, neglects or refuses to do so, if such wrongful act be committed, shall be liable to the party injured, or his legal representatives, for all damages caused by such wrongful act, which such person by reasonable diligence could have prevented;…”
42 USC § 1983 Civil action for deprivation of rights: Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
28 C.F.R. Section 0.85 Terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives”.
Section 802 (Title 18), “Domestic Terrorism” is defined as involving “acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;” which “appear to be intended–to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (or) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion”.
Treason – Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States provides: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
Three key elements are necessary for an offense to constitute treason:
– an obligation of allegiance to the legal order,
– intent to go against the legal order, and then
– action to violate that obligation.
Nice …. now try getting any of that through the JUST-US system.
A fish rots from the head, and Washington D.C. is a STENCH smelled around the World.
Everything I Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten
America is overdue for a Great Cleansing.
One of the most disgusting sights is Police making a self-glorifying public display of “helping underprivileged children” at Christmas. The Criminal, JUST-US System and those police are impoverishing families with onerous fees, fines, “charges”. Perjuring, report falsifying, liars putting on a show of piety. Those who lie also steal.
The courts, prosecutors, police are vampire parasites wrongfully convicting people too poor to afford ridiculous lawyer fees. They live by feeding off the People.
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”- Frdric Bastiat
This is the same thing the British courts used to do —- wrongfully convict to provide free labor to Britain’s penal colonies and enrich the judges. Though couched in the lofty, Latinate language of the law, a LIE is still a LIE. Part of the reason for the American Revolution. Now it is Judges, Prosecutors, “counselors”, For Profit prisons …… a whole “Incarceration industry” giving itself unlimited employment.
There is a cycle in human society …. the Haves make rules more and more complicated, expensive, and entangled so that the Haves always win and keep piling up the power …. after time the HaveNots realize that and do the first thing one learns in Kindergarten —- they throw the game table over and slaughter a bunch of the Haves. We are approaching that point now. That is good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=exnaY0l4XsM
America needs Jack-Booted-Thug police like It needs Homosexual-Pedophile priests.
“The privileged have regularly invited their own destruction with their greed.” — John Kenneth Galbraith, The Age of Uncertainty
In Kindergarten we all learned that if the other players in a game keep changing the rules to benefit themselves, the ONLY course of action is to THROW the table over.
We’re already there. There is no privacy anymore. It is now worldwide. The good ole days are gone.
“There has been a critical error on your website.
Learn more about debugging in WordPress.” (etc, etc) (Seems to be an absentee landlord, around here.) (Let’s Part-ay…)
The monitoring regime would also do well to keep the lights on, with the banks and stores running, at full capacity.
In one of Lennon’s bed-in’s… sleeping-in as an act of political resistance… non-participation … Pajama Boy…
…he says not to wreck the utilities. A firetruck will still be useful, in your idealistic utopia.
Haven’t snoops effectively lost the power over some industry or social service, at the point when the citizenry has to provide for itself, on the private dollar.
It’s much easier to keep your rights BEFORE you lose them completely than it is to try to regain your rights once they have taken them away. If people want to see this country fall to the tyrants, sit back and do nothing, but, if you wish to retain your freedoms, get involved and do something as there is strength in numbers. Where accountability revolution Dot Com helps is it gives you an idea as to what the average person can do to help keep our country from falling to foreign invaders from the inside.
Just sneak in an amendment to a future Ville requiring 24/7 spying and also full public disclosure of everything that every gov’t employee does every minute of every day.
Let them live with what they put on us.
This should be declared unconstitutional. And why is it always US that has to be surveilled but not our government? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Our representatives should be just that. Not our masters.