Big Brother is Watching

So has anyone heard about the USA Patriot Act? Well if you haven’t, let me enlighten you. First it is a law that was passed almost unanimously in the Senate and overwhelmingly in the House. It was signed into law October 26th 2001. The Act pretty much lets The Department of Homeland Security have the authority to do whatever it needs to make sure terrorist “actions” are not being made. They want to maintain National Security. The common “backronym” is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act.

So how does that effect us? Well the thing that most surprised and concerned me was that The Department of Homeland Security has the authority to monitor sudent and proffesor library borrowing records, internet records, e-mails, international travel, and phone calls. That way the can see if any suspicious play is going on. Now this upset me a little when I heard about this. What exactly do they think is “suspicious” or a “potential lead”? That makes me worry because now you might be met by federal agents at your house for checking out a book on communism, terrorism, or Al Qaeda. What if you are doing a report on one of those for a research paper? Should we worry that we might be suspects or on some type of watch list? When should the line be drawn?

I personally think that this is way out of boundries for the government to be stepping into our personal lives. Why should we have to tiptoe around certain topics to make sure we please some man in a suit? Whats next, are we going to have to get an approval for what we talk about on the phone, or in public? When did the govenrment obtain the power to override our freedom of expression and speech? Doesn’t that violate our consitutional rights? I think that this is interfearing way too much with our privacy. It makes you wonder who and when someone is actually watching us in our every action..

Team Work

I defiantly agree with Jennasa18 that Obama and Clinton should work together. It should not be all or nothing; it should be about the greater good. Shouldn’t they be happy that possibly one Democrat could win the race? I believe that I could be done.. but someone is going to have to swallow some pride (I personally think Clinton should ride shotgun). They wouldn’t even have to fight over the important issues. They stand for pretty much the same issues; it’s just the fine tuning they would have to agree upon. Coming together would defiantly be a strong and positive influence for the public. Maybe some good could actually come out of politics. Now if we could just get Clinton and Obama to agree to Jennasa18’s thoughts it would be phenomenal! But in all reality I do not think that either one of then would be the better person and do it for a hoping society.