Ever had that feeling that if you were just going to a restaurant to have dinner to kill time before seeing a show that you would be suddenly grabbed, have guns pointed at you, and held without lawyer on an unwarranted search? And not just you - you and everyone in that restaurant? And, ultimately, to have spent an evening going through all this for something that was a mistake?
Well now in America we can have that very feeling!
Three days later I phoned the restaurant to discover what happened. The owner was nervous and embarrassed and obviously did not want to talk about it. But I managed to ascertain that the whole thing had been one giant mistake. A mistake. Loaded guns pointed in faces, people made to crawl on their hands and knees, police officers clearly exacerbating a tense situation by kicking in doors, taunting, keeping their fingers on the trigger even after the situation was under control. A mistake. And, according to the ACLU a perfectly legal one, thanks to the Patriot Act.And the sequel isn't even out yet. But here are some of the exciting new twists it is expected to bring us:
The Patriot Act is just the first phase of the erosion of the Fourth Amendment. From the Justice Department has emerged a draft of the Domestic Securities Enhancement Act, also known as Patriot II. Among other things, this act would allow the Justice Department to detain anyone, anytime, secretly and indefinitely. It would also make it a crime to reveal the identity or even existence of such a detainee.Think it won't happen to you? Neither did Jason Halperin, until he and his roommate stopped in to grab dinner before a show.
America, "sacrificing our own liberties to share them with the world."
Tom Tomorrow responds to this article with the following:
About a year or so ago, I remember reading some right wing asshat on a message board insisting that the innocent have nothing to worry about, there will be no abuses of power, yadda yadda yadda. I guess that particular moron now lives in the country he deserves; it's just a shame the rest of us have to live there too.