Patriot Act

9/11 - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Freedom - Government - Government Corruption - Gun Control - Homeland Security - Law - Liberals - Liberty - Military - Patriot Act - Pentagon - Police State - Policy - President - Progressives - Regulation - Security/Safety - Senate - Taxes - Warner Todd Huston

Cities That Have Used Military Equipment for Riot Control Might Owe Feds Millions

September 11, 2014 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

On Tuesday, Obama administration officials testified that local police who received surplus military equipment from a government program were never supposed to use that equipment for riot control and if the items were misused, cities may be forced to repay millions in grants given them by the government to purchase the equipment.

The testimony was delivered before Congress by members of the Defense and Homeland Security departments on Tuesday afternoon in a hearing that was spurred by shocking images from Ferguson, Missouri where police used a variety of military-styled equipment to quell rioting last month. Local police obtained some of that surplus military equipment through the Pentagon’s 1033 Program.

During the hearing Senators pointed out that many departments have been given equipment that they really have no legitimate need for. During the hearing it was revealed that one small Oklahoma county sheriff’s department for instance, received two 18-ton MRAP armored vehicles even though the department has only one full-time peace officer.

Several Senators questioned just why local police need military equipment at all. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul noted that 12,000 bayonets have been given out to local police and he wondered why a weapon of war like that, one used solely for killing and not peacekeeping, needed to be placed in the hands of a police department.
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Cities That Have Used Military Equipment for Riot Control Might Owe Feds Millions”

9/11 - al Qaeda - Anti-Americanism - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government Corruption - ISIS - Islam - Islamofascism - Jihad - Koran - Liberals - Military - Patriot Act - President - Progressives - Religion - Security/Safety - Sharia - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston

Many Want to Forget 9/11–But We Must NEVER Forget!

September 11, 2014 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

It has been 13 years since that horrible day in 2001 when terrorism hit America with a vengeance. But many want to forget and pretend it never happened and we already have a generation of kinds just about to, or soon to enter into their teen years who can’t remember what happened on September 11, 2001. It is up to us to keep the memory of that day alive lest we allow it to be repeated.

But how do we approach that remembrance? But looking at an empty word document sitting ready to be filled with my 9/11 remembrance finds words coming slowly and I find it so hard to start this piece.

But I realized why it is so hard for me to start this piece. I am still furious, feelings are still too raw, I still well up when I see video of the towers falling, my heart still stops when I see that heart-wrenching image of bodies falling from windows hundreds of feet in the air. I still get that dark feeling in the pit of my stomach, the same one I felt that morning in 2001.

It’s all still too emotional to write a mere memorial. Words fail me.
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Many Want to Forget 9/11–But We Must NEVER Forget!”

Afghanistan - al Qaeda - Barack Obama - Democrats/Leftists - Education - Ethics - Islamofascism - Jihad - Liberals - Patriot Act - President - Progressives - Security/Safety - Taliban - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston - William Ayers

Bill Ayers: Obama Should be Tried for War Crimes

June 19, 2013 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Former domestic terrorist and liberal educator Bill Ayers may think Obama is a charming and likable but he still thinks he should be tried for war crimes over his drone program and his military campaigns in Afghanistan and other places.

In a continuing video series called the RCP Morning Commute, where well-known Chicagoans and folks in the news take a “morning commute” drive with the Charlie Stone and Tom Bevan of Real Clear Politics, Bill Ayers made his assessment of the Obama presidency. And he wasn’t wholly complimentary.

When asked to grade the President’s term in office, the infamous educator proclaimed Obama’s presidency a failure. “I’d give him a failing grade,” Ayers said.

Ayers went on to say he feels that Obama is a “moderate” and that he campaigned that way so no one should be surprised by the President’s actions in office.
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Bill Ayers: Obama Should be Tried for War Crimes”

al Qaeda - Congress - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - DOJ - Ethics - Government - Homeland Security - House of Representatives - Islamofascism - Jihad - Liberals - Muslim Brotherhood - Patriot Act - Policy - President - Progressives - Taliban - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston

House Defeats Bill to House Terror Detainees in U.S. Prisons

June 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Once again Democrats tried to get a bill passed in the House of Representatives to fund an expansion of U.S. prisons in order to house terror suspects in the U.S. heartland instead of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As in years previous, however, the measure was defeated.

On June 4 the House shot down an amendment introduced by Representative Jim Moran (D, Vir.) to the military construction spending bill (H.R. 2216) that would have allowed the move.

Moran’s amendment would have struck out language that prevented the construction funds from going to any U.S. prison in order to house detainees now housed at Guantanamo. Moran insisted that the “best place” for accused terrorists is right here in the United States.

“The best place for them to be housed and then tried is in the United States,” Rep. Moran said. “The continuance of the Guantánamo Bay facility represents an immediate security threat to the United States because it is a rallying cry and a recruitment tool for our enemy.”

Moran’s amendment went down to defeat in a 170-254 vote. Every Republican except one voted against the amendment and the Democrats voted 169-25 in favor.
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House Defeats Bill to House Terror Detainees in U.S. Prisons”

1st Amendment - Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - CIA - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - FBI - Government - Liberals - NSA - Patriot Act - President - Progressives - Warner Todd Huston

Obama’s Intelligence Agency Looking to Hire ‘Digital Exploitation Specialist’

June 11, 2013 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The National Security Agency (NSA) has been in the spotlight since news broke that the agency has been collecting massive amounts of data from everyday Americans and with some of the worst timing ever, the NSA is now advertising for new employees for positions as “Digital Exploitation Specialists.”

According to the NSA job description, the duties of the job are to “perform discovery and target technology analysis of digital network and mobile communications.”

The job opening was advertised on Twitter on June 6.

Just as the agency is under suspicion of being the biggest domestic spies in American history, the agency posts job openings for even more such people. This only days before an NSA whistleblower came forward to detail what many is proof of the over zealousness of the spy agency.

And as millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their insurance benefits, or finding their career stagnate in paralysis, the NSA seems to have a pretty sweet starting salary range for these Digital Exploitation Specialists. They’ll be making between $42,209 and $81,204 annually.
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Obama’s Intelligence Agency Looking to Hire ‘Digital Exploitation Specialist’”

Anti-Americanism - Arkansas - Boston - Congress - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Government - Islam - Islamofascism - Jihad - Liberals - Patriot Act - President - Progressives - Sharia - Terrorism - Warner Todd Huston

VIDEO: Rep. Tom Cotton Slams Obama Administration’s Failed Counterterrorism Efforts

April 25, 2013 by

As Rep. Cotton points out: 5 Jihadists have reached their targets since Obama took office. During Bush’s post 9/11 term NOT ONE terrorist reached his target inside the USA.

Tom Cotton is a Republican Congressman from Arkansas.

1st Amendment - Anti-Americanism - Blogging - Computers - Congress - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - DOJ - Email - Ethics - Free Speech - Freedom - Google - Government - Inernet - Liberals - Liberty - Nanny State - Net Neutrality - Patriot Act - Progressives - Regulation - Security/Safety - Technology - The Law - Twitter - Warner Todd Huston

Bait and Switch: Law Goes From Protecting Your Email to Allowing Gov’t Into Your Email

November 20, 2012 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

A new law that was originally meant to strengthen the privacy of your email was recently re-written to allow government more access to your private emails and other digital files.

When H.R. 2471 went to the Senate, Democrat Senator Pat Leahy quickly rewrote the whole thing to allow federal policing agencies to have the power to search your digital files without a warrant.

As CNET reports it,

Leahy’s rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans’ e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge.

This is, of course, an example of the government going too far for security. And you know the old saying so often attributed to Ben Franklin, “Those who would trade in their freedom for their protection deserve neither.”

Also, I can’t stress more, here, that is the Democrats doing this. This is not a GOP effort.
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Bait and Switch: Law Goes From Protecting Your Email to Allowing Gov’t Into Your Email”

1st Amendment - ACLU - Barack Obama - Bill of Rights - Censorship - Congress - Constitution - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Ethics - Government - Liberals - Patriot Act - Policy - President - Progressives - Warner Todd Huston

ACLU: Obama Has Quadrupled Warrantless Wiretaps

October 1, 2012 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The ACLU released a report this week that shows that under Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder, warrantless wiretapping and monitoring of American’s electronic communications is “sharply on the rise.”

After months of litigation and Freedom of Information Act requests, the ACLU obtained documents from the federal government proving that real-time monitoring of electronic communications inside the U.S. has climbed 60 percent since 2009 and far surpasses that under President Bush.

The ACLU reports that the Dept. of Justice used “pen register” and “trap and trace” techniques 23,535 times in 2009 and 37,616 times in 2011.
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ACLU: Obama Has Quadrupled Warrantless Wiretaps”

Congress - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - Frederick Meekins - Government - Islamofascism - Journalism - Liberals - Media - Media Bias - Patriot Act - President - Security/Safety - Taliban - Terrorism

Leftist Commemoration Undermines Resolve Against Terror

March 27, 2012 by

-By Frederick Meekins

Yes. Perhaps this is being posted a bit late. However, the points are still valid. If you are going to be that condescending, perhaps you should be reminded that you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time online obsessively reading columns and articles of those you snidely dismiss as less accomplished than yourself.

It is said that the only thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn anything from history. Following the attack on 9/11, the nation’s leaders as epitomized by the members of Congress joining on the steps of the Capitol in patriotic chorus vowed that they would be vigilant against the laxity of policy and perspective that left the door wide open allowing such a tragedy to transpire in the first place. However, in the decade since then, little has changed in the hearts of many that would prevent an occurrence of similar or greater magnitude from happening again in the future.

Under the auspices of the National Cathedral, an interfaith memorial was to be held in Washington, DC. Since the President and a number of representatives from a variety of religious perspectives were scheduled to speak at the service, the event was billed as and assumed to be one promoting an inclusive brand of diversity and spirituality.
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Leftist Commemoration Undermines Resolve Against Terror”

Computers - Congress - Conservatives - Democrats/Leftists - Ethics - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Inernet - Liberals - Military - Patriot Act - President - Republicans - Rights - Security/Safety - Senate - State Department - Technology - Terrorism - Transparency - Warner Todd Huston

We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too

October 19, 2011 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

A recent New York Times article revealed that the Pentagon briefly considered engaging in cyberwarfare at the outset of the actions in Libya, but decided against it for a variety of reasons. This reminds us all that as a nation we really need to discuss the use of cyberwarfare. The first question asked must be: should a president be able to simply order such an attack on his own hook?

The Times noted that one of the concerns about the use of cyberwarfare is how it would be justified under the War Powers Resolution of 1973?

One unresolved concern was whether ordering a cyberattack on Libya might create domestic legal restrictions on war-making by the executive branch without Congressional permission. One question was whether the War Powers Resolution — which requires the executive to formally report to lawmakers when it has introduced forces into “hostilities” and sets a 60-day limit on such deployments if Congress does not authorize them to continue — would be required for an attack purely in cyberspace.

One would think that the answer to this would be somewhat obvious — though nothing seems obvious in Constitution-based discussions, sadly.

We know that the Founders vested in Congress the power to declare war not in the president. They wanted to avoid a repeat of the historical outrage of a King’s untrammeled powers to declare wars without the consent of the people and their duly elected representatives.
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We Need Rules for Cyberwarfare Before a President Steals That Power, Too”

Anti-Americanism - Barack Obama - Budget - Congress - Constitution - Democracy - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - GOP - Government - House of Representatives - Jeff Lukens - Liberals - Patriot Act - President - Republicans - Security/Safety - Senate - State Department - Taxes

The Strategic Debate We Need To Have

June 23, 2011 by 1 Comment

– By Jeff Lukens

The U.S. federal debt is our nation’s greatest strategic weakness. As the debt continues to grow, our military posture around the globe is threatened. Defense cuts are coming, and with that reduction must come a reduced mission. In this environment, what our nation’s strategic mission should be, and what the corresponding defense funding should be to meet that need, are open questions. They are questions that need to be openly explored by politicians and the American people alike.

In a recent speech to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, “A smaller military, no matter how superb, will be able to go fewer places and do fewer things.” Ever the public servant, Gates seeks to kindle a debate the country seems reluctant, but needs, to have. It would be an invitation to disaster if we kept the same mission with reduced funding, or a reduced force. By bringing the issue to the public forum, Gates apparently seeks to avoid that calamity.

The core Pentagon budget is now about $530 billion, and accounts for roughly 20 percent of federal spending, and roughly half of discretionary spending. Defense cuts are coming, that much we know for sure, and the easiest of them have already been made. Gates acknowledged that over the past two years, “more than 30 programs (weapon systems, etc.) were canceled, capped, or ended that, if pursued to completion, would have cost more than $300 billion.”
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The Strategic Debate We Need To Have”

Adam Kinzinger - GOP - Government - Illinois - Patriot Act - Republicans - Warner Todd Huston

Kinzinger Statement on Reauthorization of Expiring Provisions in the PATRIOT Act

May 31, 2011 by

From the office of Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R, ILL)…

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Adam Kinzinger (IL-11) issued the following statement in support of the reauthorization of the three national security provisions in the PATRIOT Act which are set to expire on Thursday, May 26th. These provisions will be extended for an additional four years.

“As a military officer, I have seen the PATRIOT Act provide invaluable legal tools to detect, disrupt, and prevent potential terrorist plots. These legal tools have been available to investigators of organized crime and drug traffickers for years; surely they should be available for use against terrorists. We must have the authority to defend our nation from future attacks, while ensuring American’s fundamental rights are protected under the Fourth Amendment.

“The PATRIOT Act has played an important role in disrupting potential attacks and keeping our country safe since 9/11. Three essential national security provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire tonight; therefore Congress must act to ensure these constitutional and commonsense safeguards remain intact against potential terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.
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Kinzinger Statement on Reauthorization of Expiring Provisions in the PATRIOT Act”

Chris Slavens - Constitution - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - GOP - Government - Liberals - Nanny State - Patriot Act - President - Republicans

GOP reveals hypocrisy with Patriot Act vote

February 26, 2011 by

-By Chris Slavens

Both parties in the House failed to muster enough votes to extend controversial provisions of the Patriot Act on February 8, which required a two-thirds majority. Some commentators have chosen to focus on the lack of discipline within the parties; both the Obama administration and GOP leadership favor the extension, but neither was able to whip enough congressmen onto the bandwagon. However, the bigger story is how many Republicans—including a number of “tea party” freshmen who campaigned last year as defenders of the Constitution—voted against the Fourth Amendment, as though it is somehow less important than the others.

Specifically, the provisions permit the federal government to spy on U.S. citizens (perhaps “subjects” would be more appropriate in this case) by using roving wiretaps in the name of combatting terrorism, allow monitoring of noncitizens, and give broad authority over records and private property.

After two years of frantic shrieking about the Obama administration’s shredding of the Constitution and unprecedented expansion of the federal government, one would think that Republican lawmakers, entrusted with control of the House of Representatives by the American people, would view such a vote as a golden opportunity to restrict government’s ability to intrude into innocent citizens’ private lives.
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GOP reveals hypocrisy with Patriot Act vote”