-=> ROY J. TELLASON wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 RJT> Wayne Chirnside wrote in a message to All:

 WC> [W]ASHINGTON, Sept. 27 -- The Bush administration, which calls the
 WC> USA Patriot Act perhaps its most essential tool in fighting
 WC> terrorists, has begun using the law with increasing frequency in
 WC> many criminal investigations that have little or no connection to
 WC> terrorism.

 RJT> Big surprise there,  eh?

None at all from me.
This is EXACTLY what I feared and in fact predicted from
the very first :-(

 WC> Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the ranking Democrat on the
 WC> Judiciary Committee, said members of Congress expected some of the
 WC> new powers granted to law enforcement to be used for nonterrorism
 WC> investigations. But he said the Justice Department's secrecy and
 WC> lack of cooperation in putting the legislation into effect made him
 WC> question whether "the government is taking shortcuts around the
 WC> criminal laws" by invoking intelligence powers -- with differing
 WC> standards of evidence — to conduct surveillance operations and
 WC> demand access to records.

 RJT> No,  really?!  Duh...!

 Guilty until proven innocent, if they let you attempt
 to do so :-(

 WC> "We did not intend for the government to shed the traditional
 WC> tools of criminal investigation, such as grand jury subpoenas
 WC> governed by well-established precedent and wiretaps strictly
 WC> monitored" by federal judges, he said.

 RJT> If they expected something other than what they got,  they really
 RJT> oughta get their heads outta their butts...

 WC> Justice Department officials say such criticism has not deterred
 WC> them.

 RJT> "Sticks and stones..."

They need to rename that Department to reflect it's new
goals... Injustice Department?

 WC> "There are many provisions in the Patriot Act that can be used in
 WC> the general criminal law," Mark Corallo, a department spokesman,
 WC> said. "And I think any reasonable person would agree that we have
 WC> an obligation to do everything we can to protect the lives and
 WC> liberties of Americans from attack, whether it's from terrorists
 WC> or garden-variety criminals."

 RJT> Lives _and_ liberties?!  Right.

 RJT> They're gonna do what they want to do,  and any excuse that's handy
 RJT> _will_ be used...

And the sheeple will cheerfully support it because it's
called "The Patriot Act."

The incredible lack of critical thinking in this
country today is depressing to me.
 
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