New Patriot Act creates American Gestapo

[Ufomammut]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_ben_fran_060104_new__22patriot_22_act_cr.htm

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/showsubjects.php?tid=/Patriot+Act

Further links provided.

[anarch]

1. uhhh...I agree that the Enabling Act...oops I mean Patriot Act is bad

The Secret Service Uniformed Division has been around for a long time...I got hassled on the street by one of these guys in 1996, even.

Perhaps this just sets them up as a more Gestapo-like organization. :shrug:

[Ufomammut]

2. This sounds alarmingly different from "secret service"

And the point is, the right wing headcases sure seem to be preparing and laying all the groundwork for totalitarianism.

[onenote]

5. its not different at all. Sky is not falling

[_testify_]

3. this has been debunked a few times I think

http://www.secretservice.gov/ud.shtml

The proper name of the current secret service is the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.

All this does is move them from Treasury Dept to DHS.

[onenote]

4. exactly right

Lets review what the "new" provisions actually do: they don't create the first federal police force or a new federal police force; they grant the Secret Service no new significant expansion in power (and to the extent there is an expansion, it applies not just to the uniformed division, but to the secret service in general as well as to any law enforcement official with authority to enforce violations of federal criminal law). Is a new “Gestapo” being created. Only in the fantasies of bloggers who don’t seem to realize that when they dream up this bullshit they undermine the credibility of those of us who are trying to point out the real problems with the Patriot Act.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=201297#209673

As for the concern about "NSSEs":

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=243359

[_testify_]

6. It amazes me that this still pops up so often

No offense to the OP - not everyone is aware of everything at all times...

[Ufomammut]

7. Thanks for not being a dick!

Like the other guy. I'm relatively new here and cannot begin to keep up on the specifics of every issue. What happened was, there was another thread regarding the militarization of the police, and someone posted something referencing the "gestapo," so I posted this quick.