by I’m not ethnocentric nor do I believe the United States has always been right in everything it has done pre and post-9/11. I think the Patriot Act has become an assault on civil liberties under color of law and I think the TSA is an abomination.
Still this tripe by a Canadian business and current affairs columnist just rubs me the wrong way. David Olive of the Toronto Star wrote a column entitled “I’m already nauseated by the 9/11 memorializing” a few days ago which included this.
After all, it was a panicked response to 9/11 that conflated that terrorist attack into the nation-defining episode Osama bin Laden intended, unleashing the dogs of war on innocent people, stripping Americans of basic civil rights, degrading America’s military prowess and its public finances, and exposing the U.S. to the world as maladroit, mendacious and belligerent in diplomacy; incompetent at military occupation; inept in the gathering and interpretation of intelligence; and having only a lip-service commitment to the eradication of torture from the world. (I assumed, cynically, that the U.S. would at least bring its own WMDs to plant if it couldn’t find any of Saddam’s, in the manner of a trigger-happy LAPD equpped with “drop guns” for use when accidentally making widows in South Central LA.)
Whatever he gets right in that spiel is more than offset by his appalling attitude.
He's a piece… I spend plenty of time in Canada and they sure do wax poetic about all of the horrible things the U.S. does militarily while hiding behind us and spending their money on social programs that they don't have to spend on defense.
What can you expect from someone who lives in a country where there are onerous firearm regulations, where the medical system makes you wait for necessary medical procedures and where the individual and property taxes are almost double what ours are in the US?
Oh yes… and where they use mayo on their hot dogs and hamburgers.
It is much easier for them to point fingers at the USofA rather than fix their own problems.
What is it about the Patriot Act that has violated your rights?
People talk about the Patriot Act, but most know nothing about its provisions.
Is it the administrative subpoena authority given to the FBI that they may serve on third parties?
Hhhmmmm, do you have any privacy in records about you held by a third party?
LOL, of course not.
Is it the roving wiretaps? Well, are you opposed to all wiretaps? Did you know that a roving wiretap meets the same requirements as any other wiretap?
Was it the intelligence wiretapping of Muslim terrorists in the U.S. and overseas? Well, no one overseas has any privacy rights, much less there being a warrant requirement for said wiretaps.
In the event you are wiretapped talking to your terrorist or espionage friends overseas, don't worry, as the wiretaps themselves cannot be used against you.
But not to worry, overseas wiretaps are not part of the Patriot Act. The government has been using them for intelligence since the 20s. And they are legal, as they are intelligence based and not used in court.