Lodi "terrorists" and Bush call to renew Patriot Act connection?

[mctrotter5]

As a Californian, I am wondering about these "sudden" arrests, claims of intent to bomb hospitals and poison food supply yesterday which have been withdrawn today. Now this morning Bush is making his speech to push renewal of the Patriot Act.

[aden_nak]

1. I saw those on the news. They were WITHDRAWN?

I knew it, last night, when I saw the story. The anchor was going on and on about poisoned food supplies and unprotected children in schools. It reaked of scare tactics.

[Sequoia]

3. A little late since school's out for summer.

We all knew from the get go it was scare tactic.

[aden_nak]

4. Yeah, but it's another thing if the government withdraws the charges.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. That thought should cross everybody's mind

Reposted from another thread:

The accused's right to be presumed innocent is underscored in these circumstances. We are not talking about the system of justice as the Founding Fathers envisioned it, but as Bush, Ashcroft and Gonzales envision it.

Because this is justice as defined by the Bush regime, we are entitled to have a more jaded view of state power than had people like James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. The action comes as news of the Downing Street document hits the US press. Perhaps this is a legitimate investigation and these are legitimate criminals; but we are entitled to ask out loud if this what we should expect now in place of discredited color coded terror alerts.

We don't know what the facts are in this case. We should not presume to be getting any more useful information from the corporate media than we got from them about Saddam's military capabilities during the run up to the invasion. Are these facts they are reporting? Or are they just rewriting a press release from a Justice Department run by people with more in common with the crowned tyrants of eighteenth-century Europe than our own Founding Fathers?

[lumpy]

5. Yes, Lodi connection

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