Congress looking at police spying

chasseur wrote:

Indie, the fact that we haven't been attacked domestically or abroad since we've stepped it up in the wake of 9/11 proves that we are accomplishing those goals, much to the protestation of those who still can not show where people are actually being harmed by violation of civil liberties.

Terrorism is a waiting game, not a rapid fire battle. Attacks will occur again, perhaps not as large as 9/11.

cant resist wrote:

Funny how The Sum doesn't hesitate to allow comments critical to some people with their stories, but god forbid should they print an article, much less install a comment section for stories that are critical to their handlers in Annapolis.

WHAT?

chasseur wrote:

Indie, the fact that we haven't been attacked domestically or abroad since we've stepped it up in the wake of 9/11 proves that we are accomplishing those goals...<snip>

We haven't been attacked OVER HERE because Bush has been spoon-feeding our brave fighters to the terrorists OVER THERE, dammit!

Surf52 wrote:

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The State Police cannot provide routine police services to the city of Baltimore, unless the city asks for help. We btoh know that regardless of who the governor or the mayor is, that will never happen.

you're probably right, unfortunately.

Garth wrote:

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All I got out of that is you do not support Bush, with explanations. You feel Guantanamo is a violation of civil rights? Last time I checked those civil rights applied to American citizens and not combatants of war. I am sorry you lost your friend to a cause you obviously know nothing about. I lost a lot more Marines, as well as friends in Iraq and Afghanistan serving three combat tours myself, but they believed in what they were fighting for. Apparently, you would rather have a dictator who killed hundreds of thousands Kurds to the north and Shia in the south. That would make you feel more safe at night as long as it was not happening to you right? Iraq was a known terrorist state supporter. Do you honestly think terrorists were not there to begin with or all the ones creating the terror decided to migrate there? Come on, your naive sense that your rights are being violated by the Bush administration has no merit. The MSP are doing their jobs protecting the public. I am sorry, but I have not read one fact saying that all those names were entered into that federal database. It only stated they were performing surveillance, something they would have.....

let me preface that i would never mean to offend any american fighting this war. they are taking orders and doing their best. and i commend you and everyone who has fought. my friend did his job but he did not believe in what he was doing and he told me many of his friends in the military didn't as well. i know a lot of people believe in what they are doing over there and i don't condemn the fact that an evil dictator is gone. i just question bush's motives for the war and what will come out of it.
i may have supported the war if bush made a good argument. the first bush invaded iraq when they invaded kuwait. most every american, including myself, supported that. clinton took care of milosevik. however, this war was trying to link 911 with iraq. no one thought it was a bad idea to hunt bin laden and terrorists. hussein and iraq had nothing to do with it. i'm certainly not sympathetic to hussein; he was a murderous b*st*rd. but bush didn't go there to liberate anyone; he went there for control of the region and money. you can't convince me otherwise.
you don't have to lecture me on what's going on in iraq and in the world. there's genocide and injustices going on in many places yet we, dems nor repubs, are not doing anything about it. i read about this stuff all the time and i don't just read liberal papers. i enjoy libertarian and other right leaning material. left and right tend to get blurred when one considers many issues and perspectives.
on the guantanamo issue, the very right-leaning supreme court ruled that they were not "enemy combatants" and in fact POWs, which binds us to follow the geneva conventions. waterboarding was considered torture in that verdict. those are the rights i was referring to.
my naive sense of rights being violated by the bush admin has LOTS of MERIT. in fact, the whole friggin world and most of this country believes it has merit.
keep reading the news and you'll see that there are peace and anti-death penalty activists on that fed terrorist list. but it will be purged and you'll read about that too. i've read the who report obtained by the ACLU of MD; check it out it's online. the MSP were wasting homeland security $$, bottomline. and they will pay the price.

chasseur wrote:

Indie, the fact that we haven't been attacked domestically or abroad since we've stepped it up in the wake of 9/11 proves that we are accomplishing those goals, much to the protestation of those who still can not show where people are actually being harmed by violation of civil liberties.

i would like us to make progress fighting terrorists. hussein, is an evil dictator and there are many, didn't have anything to do with 911. waste of our tax dollars for those rich people in the white house and their cronies. this iraq war is about control of the region, power, and money.

i just hope our distraction in iraq is costing us real terrorists planning to bomb us again. i support finding bin laden, get the terrorists, and work with our international allies. and you will see soon which peace and anti-death penalty activists are in the fed database for terrorism. that's a violation of civil rights and this activity is much more in line with fascism and those kinds of control over citizens. that's not what we're about here.

"A society that gives up liberty for security will deserve neither and loose both." Benjamin Franklin
FISA passed with retroactive immunity, and now the massive bailout
of Mae and Mac that Cummings voted for, which includes a requirement that all Credit Card purchases must be reported to the IRS, who should be surprised by anything? The Congress, with its 9% approval rating, is nothing more than a pawn to be moved around and sacrificed by big money which is the real power. Where are our constitutional leaders???

"it is imperative that we make clear that this behavior will not be tolerated,...."

Garth wrote:

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A bit cynical these days, but what liberal isn't? Yes, DHS was a knee-jerk reaction. But, get used to it because DHS is here to stay and I think the U.S. is better off for it. The world you want to live in is not feasible. Threats are around from international and domestic, so you are going to have to give up some rights in order for that protection to persist. Your tune would change if you were affected by terrorism personally; crying out for DHS to help you at that point.

you are wrong to assume americans are willing to give up freedom for security i'm not. maybe cowards would but most americans aren't cowards. i feel no threat at all from terrorist and would rather have my freedoms back. i have never seen a terrorist and probably never will homeland security hasn't done anything to make this country better off. show me how.chuck norris would be better against terrorist than homejoke security monitoring americans and not terrorist. all the paranoia after 911 has screwed the country more than anything. exchange the rifle in your gun rack for an umbrella it is safer and for your own good.

lilly wrote:

"it is imperative that we make clear that this behavior will not be tolerated,...."

you better be careful talking like that or you will make the list!

Mike Hargadon wrote:

"A society that gives up liberty for security will deserve neither and loose both." Benjamin Franklin
FISA passed with retroactive immunity, and now the massive bailout
of Mae and Mac that Cummings voted for, which includes a requirement that all Credit Card purchases must be reported to the IRS, who should be surprised by anything? The Congress, with its 9% approval rating, is nothing more than a pawn to be moved around and sacrificed by big money which is the real power. Where are our constitutional leaders???

they died 200 years ago

Joe wrote:

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Terrorism is a waiting game, not a rapid fire battle. Attacks will occur again, perhaps not as large as 9/11.

only when the busholes can use another 1 to fill their bulging coffers. geez wake up a little.

Ex Baltimoron John wrote:

The world changed on Sept. 11th, 2001 and with it the freedom we enjoyed as Americans. We still have freedom, but we must be wary and vigilent. It is obvious that comlacency has returned to our life-style in this country, and as a result, another 9-11 event will occur. Let the police and security agencies do their job. Let us, the citizens worry about our deteriorating lifestyles and family structure.

speak for yourself i'd rather live free with a tiny terrorist threat than have uncle sam looking up my b u t t...as long as he there maybe he can find my car keys.

Garth wrote:

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You would be okay with uniformed law enforcement protecting a rally or providing security in case things get out of hand?

so what does that have to do with spying on peace activist and putting their names into a terrorist drug dealer data base? protecting people at a rally is their job.

your name could be put in there too then what?

Lucid1 wrote:

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you are wrong to assume americans are willing to give up freedom for security i'm not. maybe cowards would but most americans aren't cowards. i feel no threat at all from terrorist and would rather have my freedoms back. i have never seen a terrorist and probably never will homeland security hasn't done anything to make this country better off. show me how.chuck norris would be better against terrorist than homejoke security monitoring americans and not terrorist. all the paranoia after 911 has screwed the country more than anything. exchange the rifle in your gun rack for an umbrella it is safer and for your own good.

I have no fear of another terror attack. It could happen, but I don't want to live in a bomb shelter because of something that might happen. Post-9/11 legislation was all knee-jerk, bandaid response to a terrible situation. They got one in on us. That is no reason to spy on your own people and look at everyone who makes a comment or looks a certain way as a potential threat.