cicerone imposter wrote:It's a repeat of the mistake made during WWII. This country is based on "democracy and freedom." That means that any citizen does not get put into jail or prison without being charged with a crime. This administration, through the Patriot Act, required all Arab Americans to register at INS offices. Those inprisoned at Getmo received no rights; no charges, no legal representation, and loss of liberty. People just don't understand what this administration had done to take away our Constitutional Rights.
Not exactly ...
The Patriot Act (Note: 342 page PDF download ... be advised) adresses the errors of the WWII blunder, and specifically calls for the protection of the rights of Arab-Americans, and others.
Quote:SEC. 102. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONDEMNING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ARAB AND MUSLIM AMERICANS.
(a) FINDINGS- Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia play a vital role in our Nation and are entitled to nothing less than the full rights of every American.
(2) The acts of violence that have been taken against Arab and Muslim Americans since the September 11, 2001, attacks against the United States, should be and are condemned by all Americans who value freedom.
(3) The concept of individual responsibility for wrongdoing is sacrosanct in American society, and applies equally to all religious, racial, and ethnic groups.
(4) When American citizens commit acts of violence against those who are, or are perceived to be, of Arab or Muslim descent, they should be punished to the full extent of the law.
(5) Muslim Americans have become so fearful of harassment that many Muslim women are changing the way they dress to avoid becoming targets.
(6) Many Arab Americans and Muslim Americans have acted heroically during the attacks on the United States, including Mohammed Salman Hamdani, a 23-year-old New Yorker of Pakistani descent, who is believed to have gone to the World Trade Center to offer rescue assistance and is now missing.
(b) SENSE OF CONGRESS- It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans, including Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, and Americans from South Asia, must be protected, and that every effort must be taken to preserve their safety;
(2) any acts of violence or discrimination against any Americans be condemned; and
(3) the Nation is called upon to recognize the patriotism of fellow citizens from all ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.
I'm not a fan of many things contained within The Act, but I've read it ... which few folks, including politicians and pundits, seem to have done. As to requiring Arab-Americans to register with the INS, that too is a fallacy. What is required is that all aliens, resident or otherwise, Arab or otherwise, apprise the authorities of their whereabouts and notify of any change of residency or status ... and it is not a new requirement. Aliens are required by law to register. The registration requirement does not apply to American Citizens of Arab heritage, only to non-citizens, and is congruent with pre-existing law. And finally, those imprisoned at Gitmo are not American Citizens; they are ununiformed enemy combatants taken into custody while opposing US forces in a warzone. They are imprisoned, a status somewhat less draconian than the traditional treatment meted out to ununiformed enemy combatants, who mostly were summarilly executed upon or shortly after capture, rather than being taken into custody and held for interrogation and/or further prosecution, civill or military.
Apart from terrorists, career criminals such as drug dealers and racketeers, and the blood pressure of the hysteria-spouting punditocracy, The Patriot Act has had no effect whatsoever on the lives of law-abiding citizens. Even the collection of demographic data on visitors to Las Vegas, currently generating media steam, has no impact whatsoever on where one lives, works, parties, educates one's young, what one wears, reads, listens to, watches, dirives, or eats. If information derived from the research results in uncovering an evildoer or two, fine. If not, fine. If there happen to have been prospective evildoers who were able to remain undetected untill successfully implementing their nefarious scheme, whatever that might be, because The System was precluded from employing the means necessary to foil them, not fine.
For perspective, here's what an icon of liberalism had to say, in an article from a paper not known for its conservative sympathy:
Quote:The Washington Post
... (Sentaor Diane) Feinstein (D-Ca.) said that her office has received 21,434 letters opposing the act, but more than half cite provisions that have not been enacted or sent to Congress by the Bush administration. The rest, she said, largely concern security measures governing items mailed to the United States from abroad -- not provisions of the Patriot Act.
"I have never had a single abuse of the Patriot Act reported to me," she said. ...
The same article goes on to report:
Quote: ... The American Civil Liberties Union has sued the Justice Department for alleged violations of civil liberties under the act, but Feinstein said that when her office asked the ACLU for examples, "they had none."
There are reasons to be critical of some provisions of The Patriot Act. In particular, there exist imprecisions which could invite manipulation and misuse or misapplication either of The Act itself or pre-existing legislation. Court challenges, above and beyond those currently ongoing, are to be expected. That is the way The System works, after all, and The Patriot Act is not exempt from judicial review or legislative refinement. Also to be expected, and curently ongoing, is the inconvenience provided byThe Act to those who would seek to use the freedoms of our system to facillitate their attempts to do harm to our system, and to our populace. The Act will change and evolve. So will those who seek to do us harm. With any luck at all, our legislative process will not fall too far behind the evolutionary curve followed by our enemies as to remain effective, proactive deterrent approach to defending our nation.
We must remain vigilant; Islamists pose a real, clearly demonstrated, self-declared, and wholly unequivocal threat to our life and liberty; the Patriot Act offers a theoretical threat, based on the potential of misuse. Both problems need to be addressed. The issue once again is an attempt to manufacture an issue where none exists, while ignoring real issues. This IMO, precisiely is why The Democrats face insurmountable difficulties in their quest to regain the power and influence their own actions, misperceptions, and misdirections have stripped from them. There is indeed a conspiracy devoted to the marginalization of The Democratic Party. The conspirators, however, are The Democrats themselves.
PDiddie, it was a good debate, probably the best yet. Dean came in for a lot of criticism, but seems, at least at first blush, to have handled it well. Again, my take is Dean did himself no damage, while the rest in no way enhanced their own standings or substantively damaged Dean. The Caucasues will tell the tale, of course, but Dean remains, by my estimation anyway, the clear frontrunner. I doubt the debate, this one or the earlier ones, have much effect ewither on Dean's core supporters, or on the relatively few folks who will take the time and effort to participate in the Iowa caucases. I think Iowa's greatest importance is merely that it is first in a long line of contests of varying form. More attention comes its way than is really deserved. The New Hampshire Primary is the first real battle, as a primary is easier on its participants than a cucas. In a primary, all one needs do is show up and vote, a caucus is a long, testy evening of argument, counterargument, resolution and counter resolution, atended only by those who care enough to plan for it, get to it, and actively participate ... a much more strenuous regimen than merely entering a voting booth, casting a ballot, then getting on with one's plans and activities.
