Quote:

Quote:
I don't understand why the legality of the Patriot Act hasn't been tested in court. Doesn't it violate the Constitution and nothing trumps the Constitution except for an ammendment to it?

Just look at the second amendment. It's been infringed for 70 years. Ironically, many people who are against the Patriot Act are for violating the 2nd amendment to the Constitution.

Quote:
On December 31st, the "wall" that forbids the CIA from sharing information with the FBI (which could have prevented 9/11) goes back into effect.

Quote:
That's where legitimate protection of Americans ends and the erosion of civil liberties begins.

Quote:
We're getting nervous up here, because we know who's next after the middle east is completely destroyed.

Quote:
We're getting nervous up here, because we know who's next after the middle east is completely destroyed.

Quote:
The "infringement" you speak of is what supreme court justices call "rulings," and "rulings" become "precedents." In the 70 years you speak of, we've had courts on the left, right, and center of any issue you can think of,who have all decided that "a well regulated militia" does not constitute unfettered access to any and all firearms.

Quote:
In the 70 years you speak of, we've had courts on the left, right, and center of any issue you can think of,who have all decided that "a well regulated militia" does not constitute unfettered access to any and all firearms.

Quote:
*Your interpretation* of the 2nd amendment has been "infringed on" for 70 years. Unless you were present at the signing of the Constitution, or are currently sitting as a judge on one of America's courts, your interpretation is no more or less valid than anyone else's.

Quote:
Blame Canada for poutine, a veritable heart attack on a plate

Quote:
Personally, I've heard of plenty of cases where it has been successful (and I assume there are plenty more we'll never hear about for 30 years) and very few cases of someone seriously wronged.

Quote:
I have more respect for the guys that opposed either the Patriot Act or the war in Iraq from the beginning

Quote:
I'm sure the 600 or so people being indefinitely detained at Guantanamo without being charged with a crime, without access to any legal representation will be greatly relieved to find out that our government is taking care of us.

Quote:
And, when you've got a President who authorized warrantless spying of any American who talks to anyone overseas

Quote:
our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country.

Quote:
The American people expect me to do everything in my power under our laws and Constitution to protect them and their civil liberties.

Quote:
Doug, with all due respect, the Constitution exists to protect Americans, not foreigners who are captured in war.

Quote:
Yep, he protects your civil liberties by destroying your civil liberties.

Well, that's time-honored practice; used on Vietnamese vilages, now in Iraq. It is only natural it would return home.

Does Bush expect (or expect Americans to expect) that 'enemy' doesn't know that tree-letter agencies operate with no regard to law!?

Quote:
The US Government is trying to say that it is on foreign soil, thus the detainees there do not have rights they normally would have if held in an American prison.

Following that logic, it would be OK to kill an American (at least if it is done by another American) while abroad!?

There is only one legal term applicable to 'detainees' in Guantamo: hostages.

Quote:
There is only one legal term applicable to 'detainees' in Guantamo: hostages.

Quote:

Quote:
That's where legitimate protection of Americans ends and the erosion of civil liberties begins.

Yeah. It's now about on par with the West's view of the former Soviet Union. Arrest and indefinite detention without trial, lawyer, or even a phone call. Secret prisons, illegal kidnappings and extraditions happening in various countries. Fictional propaganda used to invade and occupy an innocent country.

We're getting nervous up here, because we know who's next after the middle east is completely destroyed.

Help..

Quote:

Quote:
There is only one legal term applicable to 'detainees' in Guantamo: hostages.

Perhaps, but you must understand they are there as an alternative to having been killed. The fact that there are so many prisoners of war in these recent campaigns is actually a positive statement about modern first-world military ability to control lethal force and use it only as absolutely necessary. More prisoners is better than more killed soldiers, even if not perfect.

Except that they are not treated as POWs, and indeed most had nothing to do with war or terrorism at all. (For example, Google for Martin Mubanga. I find it incomprehensible that anyone would go to Afghanistan hoping to learn something from Taliban, but that makes hin just a fool.) Death toll among actual combatants is frighteningly high.

What you say is that resorting to terrorist acts it better than commiting war crimes. Well, it may be so, but I would not expect the "land of the free" (and its cronies, like UK or Poland) to commit either...