How Has The Patriot Act Affected You?

I am constantly hearing about how the Patriot Act has taken away all of our freedoms, that now we have no privacy and the government is watching our everymove. My question is, How has the patriot act directly affected you? Or even anyone that you know. It has not affected me directly in any way. Nor has it affected anyone that I know. And I am talking Directly Affecting you or someone you know. Not the government can spy on me crap.

To date, that I am aware of, the Patriot Act has not affected me at all. But let me think.

I have had to call the police into my home last year, and my teen and his friends had an encounter with the police early one morning. Under both circumstances, our rights were respected. Despite my wariness and distrust of the authorities, esp in small towns, my encounters with them were fine. All rights were respected.

I think the Patriot Act affected me when I lived in Indiana. I had to actually purchase a new ID, because when I got to vote, not only was showing ID required, but mine was days expired. An oversight, and despite the ladies KNOWING me, to comply with some new law I had to leave, go get a new ID, and come back to vote.

Other than that, nothing yet.

Thanks for the reply. Someone on another thread was complaining how our rights have been taken away by the patiot act and I am curious to see if that has actually happened to anyone. My guess is it hasnt.

Living outside of the U.S., I don't think the Patriot Act has affected me in any way. Now, Homeland Security, that made a discernable ripple: A former Russian ship was sunk here in the Cayman Islands, as a dive site/underwater habitat. I acquired one of the portholes and patiently ground it by hand into a parabolic mirror, planning to use it to construct a huge Dobson telescope. Now, used to be, one could get a few liters of Silver Nitrate, so they could painstakingly silver their own lense. Nope. Not anymore, at least not as a U.S. export. Why? It was told to me by two different chemical suppliers that silver nitrate could possibly be used to create a constituent of an explosive. Well, that's true, but it's a several-step process with low yield, when another commonly available automotive chemical can do the same thing more efficiently. Now, before you suspect me of subversive ideals, let me tell you that I have a degree in Chemistry, minor in Math and Physics. I simply want to silver my @#$@#$ lens!!!

So, while it's not been a severe impact, currently the cost of shipping and having it silvered just ticks me off too much to pony up the money.

Whew. Sorry for the rant. I feel better, though. Do you? ;o)

The only way that I can think of is that I've had to listen to people complain about it.

I think more realistically, the act has helped to prevent more terrorism and is helping to bring terrorists to justice.

I might not be aware of the details, but that's nothing to sneeze at.

I do know that attempts at terrorism have been foiled and as far as I'm concerned that's a good thing.

As an American who has lived here 30+ years.............

The Patriot Act as NOT negatively affected my life at all. Nor as it negatively affected the life of anyone I know.

[edit on 26-6-2008 by greeneyedleo]

Well I was hoping to get more responses, but this just goes to show how much the patriot act hasnt effected anyone, at least in a bad way. It is so funny how people will complain about but in reality it has helped more than hurt.

I think your right on this tide88.

The majority of people will complain that the Patriot Act is terrible because it violates their privacy and infringes on their Constitutional rights. They will also usually tell you that even though it may be helping to prevent attacks and terrorism, that it isn't worth the loss of rights. They will then usually pull out the old quote, "Those who would sacrifice their freedoms for safety, deserve neither"

However, as far as I'm concerned. I have no problem with the Patriot Act at all. And yet I do deserve safety and freedom. It says so right there in the Constitution those detractors like to talk about.



[edit on 27-6-2008 by nyk537]

Passage of the Patriot Act, and subsequent Protect America Act have made me much more politically aware. Seriously, I can't believe that not one single member of congress passed that bill without reading it. God knows what else they might pass just as negligently. Very frightening.

Yes, these acts have made me realize the incompetence that characterises our current government. I now actively particpate in attempting to rectify the shortcomings of ill-planned policies. I have vowed not to vote for any candidate that does not intend to repeal these Acts, as they are useless and unconstitutional. It would seem I'm not going to be voting at all, sadly.

I saw an interesting display in a Public Library here in the US a few years ago. It was in a glass case in the entrance lobby, with no labels or descriptive placard.

The case contained the 'scales of justice', as often seen held by the blindfolded Lady Liberty. On one side, there was a stack of scrolls, with labels such as "Freedom Of Speech", "Fourth Amendment", "Evidence Of Probable Cause", "Intellectual Freedom", "Freedom Of Expression", etc.

On the other side, was a scroll labeled "PATRIOT ACT". The scales were tilted, and that scroll shown as outweighing all on the other side.

That really made me think. One provision of the PATRIOT act requires that librarians, bank employees, etc, not disclose any of their obligations under that act -- they cannot tell you if your borrowing records, activities, etc., are being reported to the government.

My local library used to have "free" internet access. No library card, ID, or anything required to use the internet terminal or search the catalog. The new library, replacing that one, now requires a library card number to be entered for all access.

A few weeks ago, I participated in a debate here on ATS:
Challenge Match: Ian McLean vs MemoryShock: Central Intelligence Agency

As part of my research, I went to my local library, and searched for "CIA", "corruption", "oversight", etc, and borrowed numerous books on the subjects.

As I did so, I couldn't help but wonder if those activities had raised any 'red flags'. Even if so, I wasn't worried, but I remembered that glass display case. It struck me as wrong, somehow, that I should have to have such concerns in a free country.

I can easily see such worries as having a 'chilling effect' on the pursuit of freedom of thought, expression, and information. And I think that effect itself is very worrisome -- the self-censoring of possibly perceived dissent.

reply to post by tide88

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I find the people complaining about the Patriot Act are just regurgitating liberal or left leaning talking points. They generally fail to dig too deeply into the impact of this relatively new act. It's much easier for them to copy and paste Olbermann's words to their lips.

Just my take.

Flag and Star for a great topic. I really like topics that scare away the usual haters and dissenters!

Becker

I live my life on a cash basis. Any idea how much more difficult that was made by the USAPA?

reply to post by Anonymous ATS

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It is the rare American who spells characterizes with an "s."

Besides that you failed to address the question of how the law has affected you personally.

[edit on 2008/6/27 by GradyPhilpott]

reply to post by tide88

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Is it not a little funny to see not one person post that the Patriot Act has affected them? I mean there are thousands of posts that claim it has affected them, yet here you give them an opportunity to actually say how the PA has affected them. Not a single reply. Maybe if more people asked these kinds of questions, you wouldn't have so many proclaiming that the gov is stealing their rights.

Starred and Flagged and I don't expect any of the doom gloomers to post here, they avoid these types of questions like the plague.

I'm so glad you guys all trust our government so much that you're willing to give away your rights to them.

Next time there's a call for a national driver's license, or a centralized fingerprinting database, I'm sure you'll all be first in line to sign up.

I mean, after all, our government would never ABUSE these powers that we're giving away to them, right?


blog.wired.com...




www.washingtonpost.com...



I could go on and on about this, but you can do your own research.

When you ask if it has effected me, if it had, I wouldn't even be able to talk about it, since most likely I'd be under a gag rule.

What rights have you given up?



You mean your gonna let me cut in line? Sweet



You do know that in court, any information obtained illegally is thrown out and cannot be used in trial, right?



From the same link blog.wired.com...


Again, anything obtained with no legal basis cannot be used in a court of law.


Again from your source


Again, you don't need to go on and on because it does not change the fact that information obtained illegally cannot be used against you in a court of law.



Oh please, get over yourself. Many people take the government to court and win. It happens all the time. If it has actually affected you, talk to one of the civil liberties groups or your congress man.

Sounds you caught the ol' "woe is me" virus going around ats.

Are you guys serious?

I have a degree in Computer Related Crime Investigation, where the USA PATRIOT Act has perhaps the strongest impact.

Do you really think the government just uses the powers in the Patriot Act to protect Americans against terrorists? In the actual text of the Act itself, you'll read about how the system of checks and balances (remember those?) is NOT required. You'll read about how the Patriot Act is designed to protect America against THREATS. Not foreign threats, not domestic threats, just plain old threats. Throw 'em all in a barrel.

The FBI doesn't need the judiciary to sign off on a warrant now in order to tap the phone lines of a potential terrorist. That's good! On the other hand, you stealing music COULD be considered a threat to America in the sense that theft stifles capitalism, which this nation was founded on. So by that logic, the FBI can FORCE an ISP to give up their records, see exactly what you've been downloading, which sites you've been visiting, etc. They can FORCE Google to give up their search databases, and they don't even need to get involved in the checks and balances process.

So, because the FBI doesn't actually have to get a warrant signed by a judge, they don't have to communicate the wire tapping to them. Suddenly, it's not the business of the judiciary. But shouldn't it be? Don't they make the laws?

The legislative branch made this law and the executive branch signed off on it, but the judicial branch is now left out in the cold. So, our system of checks and balances is a thing of the past when it comes to the USA PATRIOT act.

Yeah, that's something i'm not comfortable with. Don't call me a liberal or a leftist, because it shows your lack of intellectual integrity. Leftists are commonly more socialist-leaning, and that's EXACTLY the kind of politics that would normally bring about this kind of ridiculous piece of legislation.

The problem here is that the only republican and democrats you know are the one's you life around, work around, breathe around. But once they all get together in DC, they turn into something entirely different, something that transcends political parties. It's called the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and we're two good terrorist attacks away from living in a POLICE STATE.

But hey, as long as we're safe, right?

Your precious USA PATRIOT act is most likely abused every single day for a variety of reasons, both worthwhile and not. For me, it's a blight on what this country was founded on.

This nation is changing, people, and you're ushering in the wrong kind of new era.

it hasn't .................. *YET*

I work for a bank in the credit card division. If you have applied for a credit card the PA has affected you. If your name matches a suspected terrorist (and there are some common names on the suspected terrorist list) it has effected you more than you will ever know.

One would have to know the Patriot Act in detail to know if it is affecting them or not. I had to fill out an extensive FBI background check for a trail crew job in 2004. They hired someone to track down old coworkers, landlords and acquaintences. For a seasonal trail crew position - in a rural national park. So I never saw a stamp or sheet of paper that said courtesy of the Patriot Act.

It's funny you hear all these people sing praises for the Patriot Act and how for instance it kept terrorists from getting them but what is the specific part of the act that did that?

Know what you are defending. Seriously, look it up and read.