The USA PATRIOT Act provides a textbook example of how the United States federal government expands its power. An emergency happens, legitimate or otherwise. The media, playing its dutiful role as goad for greater government oversight, demands “something must be done.” Government power is massively expanded, with little regard for whether or not what is being done is efficacious, to say nothing of the overall impact on our nation’s civil liberties.
No goals are posted, because if targets are hit, this would necessitate the ending or scaling back of the program. Instead, the program becomes normalized. There are no questions asked about whether the program is accomplishing what it set out to do. It is now simply a part of American life and there is no going back.
The American public largely accepts the USA PATRIOT Act as a part of civic life as immutable, perhaps even more so than the Bill of Rights. However, this act – passed in the dead of night, with little to no oversight, in a panic after the biggest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor – is not only novel, it is also fundamentally opposed to virtually every principle on which the United States of America was founded. It might not be going anywhere anytime soon, but patriots, liberty lovers and defenders of Constitutional government should nonetheless familiarize themselves with the onerous provisions of this law, which is nothing short of a full-throttle attack on the American republic.
What’s Even in the USA PATRIOT Act?
What is in the USA PATRIOT Act? In the Michael Moore film Fahrenheit 9/11, then Rep. John Conyers cracked wise about how no one had actually read the Act and how this was in fact par for the course with America’s laws. Thus, before delving into the deeper issues surrounding the PATRIOT Act, it is worth discussing what the Act actually says. Here’s a brief look at the 10 Titles in the PATRIOT Act:
- Title I: Enhancing Domestic Security Against Terrorism: This provision dramatically expands the powers of the President, the military and the intelligence community whenever the specter of “terrorism” is invoked. Bizarrely, it contains a provision condemining discrimination against Arabs, Muslims and South Asians, which seems to have very little to do with protecting Americans from terrorism.
- Title II: Enhanced Surveillance Procedures: Title II contains the meat of the Act with regard to massive, industrial-scale surveillance on the American public. Beyond the simple spying on Americans and their communications, Title II increases the ability of federal intelligence agencies to share your private communications with one another.
- Title III: International Money Laundering Abatement and Financial Anti-Terrorism Act: Not simply a section of the USA PATRIOT Act, Title III is an Act of Congress in its own right. You might have noticed how much more difficult it is to open a bank account or send a wire transfer after 9/11. You can blame this provision, which shredded banking privacy rights in the United States.
- Title IV: Protecting the Border: Other than expanding the number of federal employees (of course), the provision of the USA PATRIOT Act charged with protecting America’s borders does little other than point toward paths for future action and study. It is worth noting that the weakest provision of the Act is the only one explicitly authorized by the Constitution — protecting the border.
- Title V: Removing Obstacles to Investigating Terrorism: Title V authorizes bounties for the apprehension of alleged terrorists, broadens government power to conduct DNA analysis, allows for greater data sharing between law enforcement agencies and, perhaps most disturbingly, requires private telecommunication carriers to comply with government requests for electronic communication records whenever requested by the FBI. It also expands the power of the Secret Service to investigate computer fraud.
- Title VI: Providing for Victims of Terrorism, Public Safety Officers and Their Families: Perhaps the most innocuous portion of the USA PATRIOT Act, Title VI provides for a victims’ fund for victims of terrorism and their families.
- Title VII: Increased Information Sharing for Critical Infrastructure Protection: The subtitle of this section of the Act is a rather wordy way of saying that the United States federal government is allowing for law enforcement agencies to share information across jurisdictional boundaries in an easier fashion than was previously legal. To that end, the Bureau of Justice Assistance was given a $50,000,000 budget for 2002 and a whopping $100,000,000 budget for fiscal year 2003.
- Title VIII: Strengthening the Criminal Laws Against Terrorism: Title VIII is where the rubber meets the road: What exactly is terrorism, according to the federal government? Unfortunately, this Title does little to clarify what terrorism is, instead focusing on declaring a number of actions (such as attacks on transit) as “terrorism,” regardless of intent.
- Title IX: Improved Intelligence: The section subtitled “improved intelligence” largely expands the powers and responsibilities of the Director of Central Intelligence.
- Title X: Miscellaneous: When the federal government titles a segment of a law “miscellaneous,” you know it’s going to include everything and the kitchen sink. And so it does: The definition of electronic surveillance, additional funds for the DEA in South and Central Asia, research on biometric scanning systems, a limitation on hazmat licensure and infrastructure protections are all addressed in Title X, which is a catchall for everything the federal government forgot to address in the first nine sections of the law.
Most of the provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act were set to sunset four years after the bill was passed into law. However, the law was extended first by President George W. Bush and then by President Barack H. Obama. The latter is particularly scandalous given that, at least in part, a rejection of the surveillance culture that permeated the Bush Administration was responsible for the election of Obama in 2008.
Passing the USA PATRIOT Act
Next, it’s important to remember the environment in which the USA PATRIOT Act was passed: Post-9/11. It is not the slightest bit of exaggeration to label the environment in which the PATRIOT Act was passed as “hysterical,” nor is “compliant” a misnomer for the Congress of the time. Opposition to the Act was slim and intensive review of one of the most sweeping Acts of Congress in American history was nonexistent.
All told, Congress took a whopping six weeks drafting, revising, reviewing and passing the PATRIOT Act. That’s less time than Congress typically spends on totally uncontroversial and routine bills that don’t gut the Fourth Amendment. The final vote found only 66 opponents in the House and one (Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold) in the Senate. The entire passage of the PATRIOT Act, from start to finish, took place behind closed doors. There were no committee reports or hearings for opponents to testify, nor did anyone bother to read the bill.
“Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism” is the bloated and overwrought full name of the bill, crafted by a 23-year-old Congressional staffer named Chris Cylke. This ridiculous name puts the focus not on the surveillance aspects or the erosion of basic civil liberties enshrined in Western society since the Magna Carta, but on patriotism. At the time of its creation, the messaging was very clear: Real patriots support massive intrusions on civil rights. As President George W. Bush said at the time, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” This sentiment very much seemed to apply to American citizens.
While the argument that if you have nothing to hide you shouldn’t fear investigation is anathema in a Constitutional republic with regard to citizens, it should be standard operating procedure when it comes to our organs of government. If we cannot expect transparency from the United States Congress – elected officials charged with representing the will of the people and protecting the Constitution – then we certainly can’t expect it anywhere else.
The Unfortunate Growth of the USA PATRIOT Act
It’s no surprise to those in the liberty movement that given an inch, the government (in particular the military-intelligence community) took a mile. Even the nebulous definition of “terrorism,” largely centered around a long litany of acts rather than the motivation behind them, has expanded to include receiving military training from a proscribed organization (without actually committing any terrorist acts or even acts of violence of any stripe) as well as “narcoterrorism” – the latter particularly convenient, as the United States government continues its losing “War on Drugs.”
Indeed, in many ways, the War on (Some) Drugs was the template for the War on Terror. Both wars have no defined enemy, no defined terms of victory. Instead, they are waged against a nebulous concept, while enjoying bipartisan support for their ever-expanding budgets. What’s more, it didn’t take long for the Feds to start using the USA PATRIOT Act for things it was never intended for, including prosecuting the War on Drugs.
Perhaps the silliest application of the USA PATRIOT Act is the prosecution of Adam McGaughey. McGaughey maintained a fansite for the television series Stargate SG-1. The Feds charged him with copyright infringement and computer fraud. In the course of their investigation, the FBI leveraged the PATRIOT Act to get financial records from his website’s ISP. This was made possible by the USA PATRIOT Act amending the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, allowing for search and seizure of ISP records.
The New York Times discovered in September 2003, that the USA PATRIOT Act was being used to investigate alleged drug traffickers without what would otherwise be sufficient probable cause. These were investigations into non-terrorist acts using a law ostensibly designed to investigate terrorism. There was some suspicion that the Act was being used to investigate crimes occurring before the Act was passed, violating the ex post facto clause of the United States Constitution.
In one of the biggest power grabs (excluding virtually everything we know from Edward Snowden – more on that below), the FBI sent tens of thousands of “national security letters” and procured over one million financial records from targeted businesses in Las Vegas. These businesses were primarily casinos, car rental bureaus and storage spaces. The data obtained included financial records, credit histories, employment records and even people’s personal health records.
The FBI maintains and databases this – and, indeed, all information collected through the USA PATRIOT Act – indefinitely. In the good old days before the PATRIOT Act, the Feds were compelled to destroy any evidence they collected on someone later found not guilty of a crime. Note that the aforementioned data collection brought to public attention by Edward Snowden (which, again – we’re getting to that) falls under this provision. Not only is the government collecting obscene amounts of private and personal information about you, they’re also storing it indefinitely with no plans to stop.
What’s more, the FBI has approached public libraries to turn over the records for specific terminals, collecting information not about specific users who might be under investigation, but about anyone who has ever used the computer at the public library. Libraries, to their credit, have been very much at the forefront of resistance against the PATRIOT Act, with some litigating compliance despite operating on small budgets and others posting “canary letters,” which effectively say “The FBI Hasn’t Been Here Yet.” The removal of such a letter would warn patrons that the FBI has been sniffing around in their records.
Indeed, the greatest criticism of the PATRIOT Act is the simplest and perhaps most obvious: Why does an Act ostensibly passed to fight terrorism so drastically expand the government’s power to investigate virtually everyone else? The PATRIOT Act is not merely unconstitutional, it is an unprecedented expansion of state power in the Anglosphere, a culture based on restricted government and the primacy of individual rights.
An excellent example of this is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expansion. Most people are familiar with the term “FISA court,” but very few people actually know what it is – a special federal court created under the Carter Administration that grants approval of electronic surveillance of both citizens and resident aliens in the event that they are accused of acting in the service of a foreign power. The last part of this sentence is very important: The FISA courts are not simply for allowing surveillance of anyone that it might be expedient to collect information about. The scope of their powers is very, very limited.
Or was.
The PATRIOT Act lowered the burden of evidence required to obtain a FISA warrant for electronic surveillance and expanded the overall scope of the FISA courts. Any savvy federal agent can now drape his charges in the garb of (what else?) “national security” and obtain electronic surveillance privileges hitherto only dreamed of by investigators. FISA courts have become pliant tools in the hands of the Feds, gladly approving their requests to monitor phone and internet surveillance, as well as access to medical, financial and educational records.
The Future of the USA PATRIOT Act
Do we still need the PATRIOT Act? Did we ever? All laws are certainly a product of their times. But this seems much more acutely true of the USA PATRIOT Act, which was passed in a rush and under duress without due consideration.
Particularly in light of the revelations from Edward Snowden – that the government is spying on everything they possibly can – it’s worth asking if there’s any walking back. He points out that the police state apparatus was originally for drug dealers, then for terrorists, but ultimately ended up being applied to anyone and everyone.
What’s more, Bob Bullard notes another frightful aspect of the USA PATRIOT Act: Terrorism-related cases are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. This means that there is little or no oversight. There is no surer hallmark of a police state than an all-powerful domestic surveillance agency with no transparency or oversight. While the USA PATRIOT Act might not create an American Stasi as such, it certainly paves the way for one.
“The USA PATRIOT Act: The Story of an Impulsive Bill That Eviscerated America’s Civil Liberties” originally appeared in the Resistance Library at Ammo.com.
Impulsive? Hahahaha….It was the planned sequel to 9-11…
It’s the Steve Urkel excuse; a 23 yo wrote it. That must be up there with ‘the dog ate my constitution’ or ‘my kid got into my laptop and accidentally erased all our freedoms’ or ‘ I don’t know how I downloaded Mein Kampf and inserted it into the draft of the PATRIOT ACT.’
That is disinfo. The 23 yr old kid gave it its name. He did not write it.
I agree! The unconstitutional patriot act was waiting for excuse to happen. As for 9-11 being an attack? Only if you call the federal government killing people in the united States an attack. In my opinion, 9-11 was orchestrated by the feds so the patriot act would be passed. Yep, it was a manufactured pearl harbor type event. I put nothing past the federal government these days.
As always … cui bono? Who has gained the most since 9/11? Who fed US false information about WMDs in Iraq? Who created its own nuclear weapons program more than 60 years ago against our wishes and with stolen designs and weapons components — including weapons-grade uranium? Who is the biggest arms dealer in the world, second only to the United States? Who installed software and hardware into the US communications infrastructure before and after 9/11 — with the data therefrom being transmitted to that nation’s military? Who is our ‘ally’ in the Middle East — only due to their endless propaganda telling us that they are our ‘ally’?
Dr Paul said it was created in 1998. Just think of the deceit in naming this abomination after a ‘Patriot’. Could anything be more indicative of how little they regard the rabble they lord over? Just scare the voting sheep and lead them wherever you want.
I don’t see the patriotism in the Patriot Act. This is a PSYOP in the form of word games like in George Orwell’s 1984.
War is peace
Ignorance is strength
Slavery is freedom
George Bush similar quote;
“Take away your liberties while protecting your freedom.”
~Monika Schaefer
VH…
Kinda like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ?
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum <——==
The plan is being fulfilled before their eyes, and Trumptartds-Republicants and demonrats- will 'vote' for their own destruction.
An awakened American public won’t be voting at the ballot box, they’ll be voting at the bullet box.
Ignorance is built into the syntax of acceptable thought……Deception allies with ignorance……the reverse projection which is the signature operation of US propaganda.
“An awakened American public won’t be voting at the ballot box, they’ll be voting at the bullet box.”
Sadly. We may differ, but I would revise it slightly to “an enlightened…”; the truly ‘awakened’ will understand the solution is “a twoedged sword” ….
“Deception allies with ignorance…”
The prince of the power of the air, the father of all lies, will ally with learned men of reason equally….
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum <—-==
The founders used the bullet box when they sought to detach from British tyranny as they had no other option. You can’t vote your way out of tyranny. Those who say we’re not there yet are the very people George Orwell wrote about. Room 101 is now a reality. Just ask Julian Assange.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/deep-state-assassinating-julian-assange
I’ve already seen/read that article…….Emperor Trump “I love Wikeleaks..” and “WikiLeaks? that’s not my thing”
The founders hold no authority for me, they were a bunch of pagan deists who wished to form a government that ruled over a Christian populous……sheep to be sheered.
I’ve been two decades plus into the Word. I came across this guy about 15yrs back. This presentation is from 2011, titled Pandemonium’s Engine:
annuit coeptis novus ordo seclorum…..the ‘bullet box’ won’t do anything but bring the desired CHAOS….the psychopaths in DC, aka freemasons, have engineered it all.
It was not too long ago I found out that George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were pals and were both Fabian Socialists. What was his real purpose in writing ‘1984’? To shove in our faces what would one day be Amerika?
You’re an optimist regarding bullet boxes. The passage of the Patriot Act raised no eyebrows amongst the hoi polli, only a very small group of citizens were perceptive enough to understand what the act consisted of and while they protested mightily they were drowned out and ignored. The average American had no realization that all of their former constitutonal protections had been erased in one fell swoop, that the surveillance state was granted unlimited powers to spy on and attack citizens, invade every aspect of their lives and, oddly enough, it excluded the very people who were accused of being terrorists, namely muslims and certain east asians.
The Patriot Act:
Puts CIA back in the business of spying on Americans. The Patriot Act gives the Director of Central Intelligence the power to identify domestic intelligence requirements. That opens the door to the same abuses that took place in the 1970s and before, when the CIA engaged in widespread spying on protest groups and other Americans.
Creates a new crime of “domestic terrorism.” The Patriot Act transforms protesters into terrorists if they engage in conduct that “involves acts dangerous to human life” to “influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.” How long will it be before an ambitious or politically motivated prosecutor uses the statute to charge members of controversial activist groups like Operation Rescue or Greenpeace with terrorism? Under the Patriot Act, providing lodging or assistance to such “terrorists” exposes a person to surveillance or prosecution. Furthermore, the law gives the attorney general and the secretary of state the power to detain or deport any non-citizen who belongs to or donates money to one of these broadly defined “domestic terrorist” groups.
Greenwood is a Psyop.
Knew thr orange man was bullshit when he got in ignored the patriot act vs eliminating it yet continues bellyhooing about patriotism…..he is a shill to allow the globalist the time they still need to prepare to take on the right. And the right were fooled into believing he was their man….
+1
I knew the Orange Fuck was bullshit before he was elected.
I knew that 2 to 3 year into his term, millions of “conserva-tards” who voted for him as their savior would start to realize he’s the ultimate DOUBLE-CROSSING ISRAEL-FIRSTER.
* Resistance and Impeachment are massive misdirection campaigns to vent conservative anger toward the Left and not toward the first Likud Party President in American history WHERE IT BELONGS!
People say your a dick, Winnie, I say any person who can see through Trump can’t be all bad. Americans are so fucked up with double-think that they can’t process what is going on. They see the great wizard on the screen and refuse to believe he is the venal man behind the curtain.
Guess you were among the many downhearted who mourned the fact that Hillary didn’t get elected. Warren still your girl?
Putting A Tyrant Right In On Top (PATRIOT Act)
Ammo.com articles are both mainstream and full of shit.
No other way to put it.
The more innocuous sounding the name, the worse it is for the people.
It’s been a long time coming and it’s here in your face . I believe the federal reserve act that removed the control and subsequent value and amount of US currency backed by a hard asset like gold or silver is a huge part of the eradication of the individuals power and control over government . Add to that the income and property tax laws varying in levels of confiscatory powers state to state using the model of the largest most powerful collection agency ever conceived , the IRS !
Under these government theft and redistribution agencies we as a free republic have morphed into a socialized structure with so many dependent on its power to extract wealth and employed by the same . Average citizens have been turned into indentured servants to the state and its employed minions especially the armed Just doing my job types . Several decades ago armed Just following orders , just doing my job government agents ultimately found their way to life prison sentences or a gallows at Nuremberg !
The fact that so many government minions were so anxious to pass and enforce the “Patriot Act” and foolishly engage in military ventures around the world and militarizing local police forces into an asset forfeiture gang equipped like a third world tin pot dictators pretorian guard .
All this costing trillions in blood and treasure . Now ask the questions !
Who benefits ?
The circle jerk of Wall Street to K-Street to Capitol Street !
Who loses ?
Average American citizens , your earning and purchasing power your rights to travel freely unmolested by government agents and your basic right to own property are all under attack continuously .
All done with the excuse of keeping you safe and secure by bankrupting you and the nation financially and morally !
Dark days ahead for our once free Republic !
FORGET ME NOT
California is playing, too.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-25/california-law-enforcement-gun-shows-nevada
There are those who create chaos so that they can step into the ’emergency’ and assume control.
9/11 was one such event … and look where we’ve landed as a result.
When your son, a junior in college calls you crying on a Saturday night, distraught about mean inconsiderate people, girlfriend problems, and how his college advisor for nearly 3 years put him in the wrong class track and will now take 6 years to graduate because he didn’t take the classes in the right order it is good to know that would break some weak kids that may do the unthinkable to himself or others it makes you feel good when he can call dad and air his problems. He hates wasting his time in a system geared to make you take one class a semester just so they can get their fees for 2 more years when he went every summer full time trying to get out in 4 years with a major degree. (Not bullshit business).
As a parent, how we react is more important than anything. Prudence, patience, and love and understanding while explaining in the nicest terms that he is a white male and life is much harder get used to it. It was a wake up call to him. After 2 hours of discussion he was more positive, determined not to let them win. We have a plan to force the deans hand either by niceness or legal means. But dad has his back. Even if he is burning out and wants to take a break, life is long and he can live in the now every once in a while. He is so determined to do well and best this unfair unjust system. I fear the system will fail him eventually because only whites have introspection. If the world were reversed and whites were slaves I have no faith it would have ever ended by blacks becoming enlightened and cuck themselves as self hating like these white libtards do.
He is a good, smart kid and could easily skip college and do well in his own business and be much happier. Maybe taking off a semester to revamp the soul will help stop the burnout. These kids today that want to succeed so they can pay 70% income tax to Bernies world amazes me. Saddens me. It is our job to fix this world for the right, next generation. He sees everyday how the lesbian underwater basket weaving majors have open book tests, no homework but he has a Chinese speaking teachers assistant and has never met the professor we paid $800 for his class to teach him. He stopped attending classes, got a tutor and spends 57 hours a week in the library and online self teaching /learning. What am I paying for? A piece of paper that allows him to become a corp slave and govt w-2 taxpayer with no writeoffs?
I mean we are all dead from climate change in 12 years anyways…..