A US Gestapo?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

By Nancy Miller Saunders
Online Journal Contributing Writer

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_568.shtml

<snip>
Then, when I was at my dizziest, I finally ran across a news item that read, "A new provision tucked into the Patriot Act bill now before Congress would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any 'special event of national significance' away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter."(3)

This item wasn't in any of the more liberal of our "liberal media." It was from Fox News, which helped convince me that, sad to say, this story is for real. And the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division (SSUD) may already be operational.

It was under such an authority that Cindy Sheehan was arrested at a "special event of national significance" -- Bush's State of the Union sales pitch -- for wearing a T-shirt that gave the number of US fatalities in Iraq, including her own son. Despite misleading reports designed to discredit her, Sheehan did not make a spectacle of either herself or her T-shirt. And she was an invited guest (though not by the Bush cabal). Another example of a "special event of national significance" was the Super Bowl even though no top administration officials, who are guarded by the Secret Service, were expected to attend.(4)

According to the new bill, officers of the Secret Service Uniform Division will "carry firearms" (sec. 3056A (b)(1)(A)) and be authorized to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony" (sec. 3056A (b)(1)(B)).

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[redqueen]

1. Beyond frightening...

But maybe that's the point. Maybe they want to indimidate as many into silence as they can...

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

2. Instilling fear is of...

...paramount importance to them, and they are frightening to be sure. But we MUST NOT permit ourselves to be paralyzed with fear, as this is precisely what they're counting on.

[Ben Ceremos]

3. So they can arrest anyone anywhere?

Wouldn't try that here, but then again, in the Useless A...