DoJ Official Blows Cover Off PATRIOT ACT- Only 3 of 763 Patriot Act wiretaps in 2008 were terrorism

[kpete]

WATCH: DoJ Official Blows Cover Off PATRIOT Act

In the debate over the PATRIOT Act, the Bush White House insisted it needed the authority to search people's homes without their permission or knowledge so that terrorists wouldn't be tipped off that they're under investigation.
Now that the authority is law, how has the Department of Justice used the new power? To go after drug dealers.

Only three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) quizzed Assistant Attorney General David Kris about the discrepancy at a hearing on the PATRIOT Act Wednesday. One might expect Kris to argue that there is a connection between drug trafficking and terrorism or that the administration is otherwise justified to use the authority by virtue of some other connection to terrorism.

He didn't even try. "This authority here on the sneak-and-peek side, on the criminal side, is not meant for intelligence. It's for criminal cases. So I guess it's not surprising to me that it applies in drug cases," Kris said.

VIDEO & MORE:
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/watch-doj-official-blows_n_296209.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/24/785634/-Only-3-of-763-Patriot-Act-wiretaps-in-2008-were-terrorism-related.-65-were-Drug-cases.

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[Joanne98]

2. STOP THE WAR ON DRUGS!

[bertman]

32. I say Stop the war on SOME drugs. Wage all-out war on meth and crack at least.

[DireStrike]

40. Agree, addictive drugs that destroy the body should be wiped out

[Wizard777]

54. What are we going to do that we haven't already done?

Prohibition is a time tested and well proven mean of taking a bad thing and making a whole lots worse. I would would prefer to rake a bad thing and make it a whole lot better with Full Scale Harm Reduction. At least then we have realistic and therefore achievable goals. It time to admit the futility of trying to prevent Lemmings from drowning themselves in a sea of drugs.

[nyc 4 Biden]

56. The War on Drugs cannot be won because it is not a war.

It's like saying our hospitals and doctor's are fighting a "War on Sickness", sanitation workers are fighting a "War on Garbage", fire departments are fighting a "War on Fire".

The term was used to scare the people into not questioning huge wrong-headed spending on the drug war that compare to the costs of real wars.

People will always do drugs, sell drugs and commit crimes in support of both. IMHO there will ALWAYS be a need to police drug crimes just as doctors will always have to cure sickness. It cannot be won and will never end, only dealt with on an ongoing basis.

I think the right combination of education, police work, treatment/rehabilitation, and a domestic/international focus on suppliers is the best way to deal with the drug abuse/crime problem.

ETA: Wizard my post wasn't directed at you.

[Wizard777]

62. It is a real war. Paramilitary civil war to be exact. The preferred war of dictators and despots.

They use very real military tactics like search and destroy. It's like one of my God Children asked me. If drugs are so dangerous. Then why are all the people my age dying from bullets? There have times in Baltimore city when our homicide rate was greater than the casualties in Baghdad. Which is a very real war zone. It's a real war. In Baltimore it's even been more than a real war.

The only time it's not a real war is when it comes time hang the politicians for their treason in declaring and arming this paramilitary civil war against We The People. A war that imprisoned millions and killed tens of millions.

[DireStrike]

58. Harm Reduction is good too.

Whatever is more effective, in the end.

[liberalmike27]

57. Yea

I think we knew that was going to happen, which is the whole idea behind the "slippery slope."

Either legalize, or decriminalize. I get a kick out of users of drugs that think they are better than the dealers of drugs. About the only difference is one makes the money, and that pisses off the people who buy the drugs, and so they like to feel better about it.

But certainly pot needs to be legalized, and taxed appropriately, which would make the price way less anyway. Other drugs need to be treated as a medical condition, which would be much cheaper. I don't think most folks realize how many people who are hooked to something like meth, or cocaine, or heroin, who want to get help, but don't seek it, out of fear of imprisonment. Only when things get so bad that the fear of that gets smaller than where they are, the level they've dropped to, do they seek treatment. Many can't afford it then. So, shift some of that massive money over to treatment, and decriminalize it, so people don't fear seeking treatment. Instead of putting more cops in the workforce, and prison workers, put psychologists, and doctors into the mix.

I realize nothing would be perfect, and there are problems with this too. But certainly with the biggest prison population in the world, we need to do something differently. And if the drug users are stealing cars, burgling, or theiving to support their habit, then I want those to be the ones that go to jail, not the drug user who buys drugs with the paycheck they worked all week for. But maybe that's just me.

[ixion]

3. the unPATRIOTic Act is unconstitutional and should be repealed immediately

and BS crap like this is prime example of why.

Oh, and the so-called 'war'(s) on Drugs and Terror need to end as well.

It's time for the American people to tell our government to quit spying on us, and restore our republic.

[Equality4all]

37. We control the house, senate and WH - wrong, they control us

This violation of the fouth amendment can stopped. Unfortunately it seems there is no interest in that by the WH administration. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. "Change" yeah, right.

[Echo In Light]

4. PHONY WAR

[Hepburn]

5. OMG....

....talk about bullshit!

IMO, the solution to the drug problem is...duh...make drugs legal. That would mean they could be safely packaged and sold at your local "entertainment" store. After all, Blockbuster seems to be going out of business and this might be a good use for all those empty stores!

:hi:

[Loge23]

6. A similar expose should be on the TSA

Just how does herding millions of innocent tax-paying American citizens into mini-penal camps in order to travel by air actually prevent terrorist attacks? Need I mention that safeguards designed to prevent the attacks of 9/11 were already supposedly in place!
The terrorists, it has been said ad-nauseum, are bent destroying our freedoms.
Mission accomplished.

[Echo In Light]

7. "Destroying our freedoms" has always been the central goal of this phony "war"

Well, that is, aside from a handful of powerful orgs making even more $ and expanding empire. The two go hand in hand.

[Patchuli]

46. "Mini penal camps" is right!

I used to love flying...now I have to micro-manage myself as to what to wear and what to take that won't get me hassled. They hassled my 83 year old mother...assholes.

[Norrin Radd]

49. I was always getting the extra unspecial attention, flying with

buddy passes. Got sick of it, and one time I was absolutely certain I had no metal on me, but wouldn't you know it a dime I'd overlooked in my back pocket made the detector go off! Ridiculous.

[Cobalt-60]

50. Im off commercial air permanently

Until the hoods and fascist trappings are removed from the airport,
I'm not a customer.
Although for a pauper who doesn't have to travel beyond commuting this
will be admittedly easy.

[Patchuli]

61. My loved ones are 390 miles away and I hate long car trips...sigh.

It used to be a hell of a lot more fun. OBL can eat my shorts the ugly bastid!

[L. Coyote]

8. AND, I'll bet big money none of those 3 "terrorists" was a terrorist!

You just know they were just "suspected" of terrorism!
Or, they were protesters at the Puke convention :rofl:

[spanone]

9. if you ask me, this was the original intent of the 'patriot' act all along.

nothing whatsoever patriotic about it

[Raster]

35. The "patriot act" was a front for political blackmail and extortion, using the NSA and other

semi-secret government agencies to do the extorting. Who needs Vinnie and the boys when you have Uncle Sam?

[XXXMADAM]

39. Washington Terrorist Pimps

CIA blackmails U.S. politicians

http://www.defraudingamerica.com/robin_head.html

[MrMickeysMom]

41. Jeebus...

Nothing like a personal story to drive it home.

[closeupready]

10. Sure, because there is money to be made in busting drug dealers, so follow the $$$.

Makes perfect sense, even if it is a disgrace.

[Frustratedlady]

11. How many were for political reasons?

I'd still love to hear an explanation for the "deer in the headlights" look Kerry had at the end of his campaign. Something happened. I'd almost guarantee they had taps on him.

[wroberts189]

30. Here is a hint.....34 point something percent.

Only three of the 763 "sneak-and-peek" requests in fiscal year 2008 involved terrorism cases, according to a July 2009 report from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Sixty-five percent were drug cases.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/watch-doj-official-blows_n_296209.html

[PreacherCasey]

12. rec'd

[scheming daemons]

13. Anybody going to give the Obama administration some kudos for transparency? Anybody???

*crickets*

[Winterblues]

14. Remember Obama voted for this when he was a Senator.

He thought it was a good thing back then, so what would change his mind?

[scheming daemons]

15. He wasn't a senator yet when the Patriot Act was passed....

...

[Winterblues]

17. Not the first time, you are right.

It was about to expire and was voted for again with a few modifications. Also the Military Commision Act as well.

[Downtown Hound]

20. Nope. He voted for this piece of shit fascist legislation

As far as I'm concerned this and his stance on gay marriage are the two biggest black eyes on his presidency so far.

[JanusAscending]

45. Me is!

Teh stupid on DU lately, has a tendency to wub oft!!! but I GIVE HIM ALL OF THE CREDIT for any success we have!!!

[pundaint]

52. It's pretty transparent that he's in the pocket of the corporate kleptocracy

[Igel]

16. I love obscure quotes.

Shupbach is a Slavist who wrote on Russian grammar and stylistics.

He pithily said that uses find tools. His point was that if speakers develop the need to express something, they will find a way to do so using whatever happens to be "lying around" in the range of grammatical and stylistic possibilities in their language. Don't have a good word for "go, past tense"? Take the word for "wend": have need, find tool. Voila: "I went."

He also flipped it around to say that tools find uses. If your language's grammar or stylistics have changed over time to make something in the language redundant or not very useful, it'll find a new use; we recycle grammar. You have two spellings, "insure" and "ensure"? Find a way to make them both work--let their meanings differentiate.

Patriot Act says you don't need warrants for wiretaps under some circumstances? Here's a very, very narrow tool. It'll find more uses.

Need a way to quickly response to changes in drug dealer's/smuggler's communicative strategies? Hey, here's a tool you can use.

It's not an underhanded, devious freeper trick. It's a human trick. (And eventually may be shown to be a trick for anything with sufficient cognitive chops.)

For instance. The recent bill to strip ACORN of funding was horrible, many said. Then they looked at it and found that it could possibly be interpreted to serve their own ends, as opposed to just what it was intended for. A tool found a potential use, and people with a need found a potential tool. An underhanded, devious freeper trick? Nah.

[wiggs]

18. WTF? Should be a huge front page story. Involves constitution, criminality,

politics, secrets, abuse of power, etc.. Should be major headline and investigation. Outrageous.

[G_j]

23. should be... nt

[Omar4Dems]

26. But there's no sex

How can this be important news? :shrug:

[Downtown Hound]

19. So, three were for terrorism

and then 65% were for drug cases. What were the rest of them? My guess is spying on political rivals and dissidents.

[DefenseLawyer]

21. Duh.

Welcome to my world.

[OnyxCollie]

22. K&R. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

24. Well, I'm sure things will change now that the truth is out

NONE of DC is for the people (or the pursuit of happiness)

[barbtries]

25. fuck due process

prisons make money!

bush will never go away really, will he?

[shadowknows69]

27. This is why I always add a hearty "Fuck you NSA!!!" when speaking with certain friends.

[Zorra]

28. If Obama wants to be real, he''ll have to take some action to stop this

type of un-American misuse of authority.

For all intents and purposes, by being ambiguous, the Patriot Act makes it "legal" for law enforcement to search anyone's house at any time.

[Equality4all]

38. Don't hold your breath - Old Bush, New Obama = what change?

I hope this law is repealed but I doubt it. Once people of any party have power & control they like it, don't want to give it up. IMHO. You thought Chaney was bad? We'll his policies are now O's and O isn't in any hurry to restore the 4th amendment protection of the populace from the govt.

[JanusAscending]

44. Did anyone twist your arm to join DU?

Pretty damn bold for a newcomer to our home! I for one think you should at least learn how to spell. Hope I didn't hurt your feelings but, I'm fed up with teh stupid!!

[pundaint]

53. and not just a little anal retentive?

[NYC_SKP]

47. "Chaney"??? I think you are on the wrong discussion board.

Just go away.

[voc]

63. the Patriot Act makes it "legal"

"For all intents and purposes, by being ambiguous, the Patriot Act makes it "legal" for law enforcement to search anyone's house at any time."

Law enforcement has always done it, but do agree it is now "legal". Further, it now can effect a portion of the populace that heretofore never worried about this possibility.

[wroberts189]

29. Funny how fast that bill got created and passed.

It whooshed into existence within hours of 9/11


And to name it the "Patriot Act" ...keeping quite in form with their knack for naming things opposite of what they are.


I bet 98%+ of the people on this board knew this was going to happen.


On edit ... Remember Moore's 9/11 movie where he shows most of them did not even read it?


knr

[Raster]

34. That bill--several hundred pages--was PRINTED within hours of 9/11.

Go fucking figure.

[wroberts189]

42. And to this day I have never seen a single article on who actually wrote it and why it existed. nt

[wroberts189]

31. Well it's pretty clear the law is not being used as sold and should be repealed.

Feingold, the lone vote against the PATRIOT Act when it was first passed, is introducing an amendment to curb its reach. "I'm going to say it's quite extraordinary to grant government agents the statutory authority to secretly break into Americans homes," he said.


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/watch-doj-official-blows_n_296209.html

[Raster]

33. I guess now we know what the Congressional collaborators rolled over each and every time.

I wonder what cheney*/bush* has on most of them?

[Lagomorph]

36. Once again, not what we were promised.

I have yet to see a law go into effect that does not compromise our Constitutional rights in some way. The most obvious example is the "and other purposes" clause at the end of every bill that comes up.

[JanusAscending]

43. And NOW IT BEGINS !!

Thus quoted JA !!!

[Rex]

48. Repukes had to cheat in the 'war on drugs' and they still lost.

[winyanstaz]

51. This is good news...now maybe we can start getting rid of those ...

unpatriotic and criminally unconstitutional Patriot acts.
That should have NEVER become a law in the first place and those that signed it without reading it should be kicked out of congress.

[Soylent Brice]

55. K&R

[lefty369]

59. I don't believe it

Obama would have gotten rid of the Patriot Act by now if that was the case. We all remember what happened on 911 and we need all the security measures in place to keep us safe and secure from the terror threat. If your not willing to give up some personal liberties to keep you safe then you don't deserve them to begin with.

[FiveGoodMen]

60. Who in the world do you think you're fooling?!

Ben Franklin said that he who would give up liberty for safety deserves neither.