Russ Feingold posed a very interesting rhetorical question in the wake of the disclosure that President Bush had personally authorized the NSA to conduct illegal domestic wiretaps. "If the President has the power to do this," Feingold asked, "what does he need the PATRIOT Act for?"
Hmm. What does he need the PATRIOT Act for? He stumps for it incessantly in near hysterical terms. What could be buried in there that is so terribly interesting to a man already in possession of self-proclaimed dictatorial powers? For a man that already has the fourth amendment down for the count? Well, as has been amply demonstrated recently, the first amendment is the one that really rankles this administration - as it serves to protect most forms of dissent.
Well, the PATRIOT Act is poised to give the administration the ability to effectively put down public displays of dissent.
More after the fold.
A renewed PATRIOT Act is set to put in place America's Gestapo:
The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division. A buried provision,
Sec. 605 of the Act, creates a federal police force under the Secretary of Homeland Security with the power to violate the Bill of Rights. In fact, it's entire mission appears to be the creation of a militarized Bill of Rights suppression force with special emphasis on first amendment suppression.
There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division.'"
The United States Secret Service Uniformed Division --let's just call them the SS for short-- are empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony."
Any "offense"? What constitutes an "offense"? Sorry, doesn't say. And where exactly will Bush's shiny new SS --no doubt festooned with the latest anti-personnel weaponry and "crowd suppression" technology-- have jurisdiction? Well, a few places, but especially at events "designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance" (SENS).
What exactly is a "special event of national significance"? Unfortunately, this can be anything. No person protected by the Secret Service need even be involved. So SENS is anywhere the administration or the SS themselves say it is. And once you find your unfortunate self within the Bill of Rights-free bounds of an SENS, the Gestapo can pretty much have their way with you. I wouldn't count on the Supreme Court taking too hard a line on any abuses of this new thug squad either, as it is accountable to no one but the administration, and you know what a wide latitude is given to America's new "unitary executive".
The obvious use for this act is to put the Code Pinks and Cindy Sheehans of the world behind bars for embarrassing dear leader with uncomfortable signs, chants or t-shirts at pro-administration, pro-endless terror war gatherings of one sort or another. The less obvious use is that the administration now has an armed wing it can deploy at will anywhere expressions of dissent against the government might spring up in the future.
Such dissent can now be put down and silenced with extreme prejudice. How's that for PATRIOTIC?