PATRIOT or enabler (part 1)

How did we get here – and where is “here” exactly?

I am sure there are a lot of people who would dispute what I am about to write, vehemently, but understand while I believe we, as a country, had a need to defend ourselves - and by that course, let slip the real dogs of war – the whole PATRIOT Act thing still made me a bit nervous when it was passed.

That is because, while such powers can always be handed off to government, it is rare, if ever, that governments set them down once they are beyond the immediate threat, which called for them.

Consider Germany’s Reichstag. In 1933, that governing body passed the “Enabling Act,” which followed closely after the Fire Decree (which dissolved civil liberties) and allowed the German Chancellor at the time, plenary powers – that means a power which is granted in absolute terms, with no review or limitations upon its’ use. Such an action also removes the right of all other groups to exercise that power. The new German law was titled “Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation.”

The Enabling Act was set to deactivate in April 1937. It did not. Instead, it gave the cabinet legislative power – complete political power – thus departing from the constitution. However, it is true that the debate over the passing of the act continued right up to the day of the vote, March 23, 1933. Intimidation by troops surrounding the meeting and missing government members, which might have opposed the legislation, ensured its’ passage.

The USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law October 26, 2001, and the full acronym means, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. The powers it provided the government included the ability of law enforcement to search telephone, e-mail, communications, medical, financial and other records without limitation; it allowed for foreign intelligence work in the U.S.; gave the Secretary of the Treasury authority to regulate financial transactions and expanded the definition of terrorism to include domestic terrorism, opening the application of these broad powers up to use within its’ borders and against its’ citizens.

The act’s real strength comes with its’ non-specific nature. Indefinite detentions, searches conducted without home or business owner’s permission or knowledge, use of FBI to search telephone, email and financial records without a court order and other access.

It’s important to note, that without these capabilities, our nation remained in danger from terrorists exploiting these holes in our security, but most of the provisions were to deactivate in December 2005. Instead, supporters pushed to make the provisions permanent. A final bill, basically ensuring these powers would be permanent, became law in 2006.

It is subsequently legal for the U.S. Government to monitor its citizens and there are very few restrictions on that.

But the passage of the PATRIOT act is not really the issue. What is at issue, is the act, as it is combined with greater government control, and other grids deeply entrenched in our government system and crossing over into massive unions and Industrial and educational system concerns.

When Barack Obama ran for the office of President, he repeatedly promised “change we could believe in.” But in fact, while many of the powers adopted under the Bush administration remain in full force and have not been rescinded, they are instead, being added to, by a complex web of Czars. These officials are mostly not vetted by anyone, but have broad, undefined authorities, unlimited funding and no way to keep track of it. The funds in question have been shunted through bank bail-outs and stimulus packages, all applied for and granted under the banner of “emergencies,” and other actions, appointments and legislation – some which are still in the process of being passed. These include the much talked about, Universal Health Care, the multi-face attack on free speech via government propaganda and press outlets willing to become lap-dogs to the White House. But they also include less obvious power grabs which are being accomplished through something as old as mankind itself – the good-‘ol-boy network.

Now you might see the Czars as an extension of that kind of network, and they are, but here on the Jolly Rogers we have identified in previous articles a number of interesting connections. These included connections between Marxist and Communist get-togethers in New York, various Harvard professors and the SEIU. But they also extended through a vast network of educators spanning all grade-levels as well as organizations nearly racially exclusive, operated for the purpose of creating “new leaders,” and artists and writers who have been uncovered in bald-faced indoctrination jobs within our public school system.

But it all gets better when you add in people like Bob Bauer.

And Bob Bauer is the subject of the next story on The Jolly Rogers. See that second part, below.