BIG SISTER: Wasserman Schultz Teams With Conservatives to Pass Patriot Act 2.0

[xchrom]

http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2011/08/01/big-sister-wasserman-schultz-teams-with-conservatives-to-pass-patriot-act-2-0/

The long arm of the law gained extra strength points this week with the passage of the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011, a mislabeled bill that will allow the government to collect information about every website everyone visits on the Internet. That is, unless you’re surfing Wi-Fi at Starbucks.

The bill makes the data collection applicable only to commercial providers, meaning that while honest Americans who pay their home Internet bills will have their searches and credit card numbers fished, derelicts roaming public libraries and coffeehouses will not be under the invasive eye of the guv’ment. According to Balloon Juice, Internet providers will be required to keep records of all their users’ activities for the period of one year. This database will then be accessible to the Police to mine.

The vote passed by a 19 – 10 margin and was sponsored by none other than Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair. Although Wasserman Schultz said Republican leadership “was trying to impose dictatorship” last week with their rhetoric and actions (see Politico article here), she seemed to be more than complicit in the privacy-crushing crusade.

[GodlessBiker]

1. This is disappointing.

[EFerrari]

2. Of course she did. n/t

[theaocp]

3. We keep trying to tell you...

DWS is all fun and games when she's yelling at Republicans, but she's not actually on your side. Good grief.

[FLAprogressive]

10. ^ THIS!!! I've been saying this all along and I've caught SO much shit. +1000000

[kelly1mm]

4. Most everyting that is sold as "for the children" is bad policy. The only reason that

the 'children' card is played is that many people will suspend logical thinking when some argument can be put forward that an idea helps/protects children, even if it barely impacts children at all.

[Divine Discontent]

5. sigh.... K&R

[Major Hogwash]

6. They can't screw us 3 times in a row and then believe we won't notice.

Because as the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
There is no fool me 3 times.

So, how did that bonehead get into office thinking the Patriot Act was a good thing to begin with???

[Tatiana]

7. What else do you expect from someone who is good friends with the right-wing Miami mafia? n/t

[mmonk]

8. I'm sure it's just temporary.

To protect liberty, I hear it must be denied.

[Forkboy]

9. A shocking development.

[MrMickeysMom]

11. For fuck's sake, Deb...

Why don't you just go the route of supporting the family unit with a return to education and jobs, not necessarily in THAT ORDER?

[FLAprogressive]

12. This is not a surprise to anyone who's been following DWS and her record. You gotta look past her

frequent TV appearances. She's a fascist.

[truebrit71]

14. ..she is no friend to the liberals that's for sure...

..just surprising that she's so brazen...

With a DNC Chair like this, who needs republicans?

[FLAprogressive]

16. She's been like this for a while. The constant TV appearances are a facade.

She killed progressive challengers to the Diaz-Balarts and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen because of her friendship with them. Nice huh?

She's a real fighter.....on TV.

[truebrit71]

13. If you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about...

:eyes: :sarcasm:

[sabrina 1]

15. Not a surprise.

She needs to be primaried.

[Loge23]

17. A particulary devious infringment

Like the Patriot Act and it's attack dog, the TSA, the government capitalized on our fear of harm from terrorism as an excuse to strip away some more freedom.
In this case, they use the abhorrence of child porn as an excuse. What rational human being would defend that?
But they are not actively trying to stop the crime of using children in this manner, they are trying to catch the people who access it, and then - hopefully - get to the source. Same thing, you may argue - but it's not. In ensnaring people online we are also admitting that we can manipulate online data or plant evidence to support a bust. There's no guarantee that this entrapment will lead to a source bust - in fact, it's unlikely if the source is international or well-disguised.
In that scenario, we are also admitting that we can bust whomever we want, whenever we want.
I've been howling about the TSA violations for a while and I still get an occasional reply on these pages that they (the TSA) are only doing their jobs to "keep us safe".
So too with this bill. There will be many who will argue that it's worth the give-away of freedom in order to stop this heinous behavior. But the price of freedom is the assumption that this behavior is indeed the exception and not the norm. So why everyone??
But, the classic takeaway from this is the good 'ol standby of the "I have enough freedom" crowd:
"It's not a right, it's a privilege!!"

One of these day, we'll wake up to a camera in our face - only "keeping us safe". What a privilege it is to live in this country!!