> Charles:Thank's for posting this. And to think that Ayatollah Ashcroft once ran on Libertarian principles! Who says powerdoes notcorrupt! GDVW+ > Ashcroft's Shadowy Disciple George Pataki > Someone to Watch Over Us > Friday, 15 November, 2002 > > The government [under the USA Patriot Act] can use [its powers] on > people who aren't suspected of committing a crime. Innocent people can > be deprived of any clue that they are being watched and that they may > need to defend themselves. --Lincoln Caplan, editor, Legal Affairs ("A > Magazine of Yale Law School"), November-December 2002 > > In covering the highly visible and contentious midterm national > elections, the press, in all its manifestations, totally ignored the > Bush > administration's ceaseless attacks on the Bill of Rights, orchestrated > by Attorney General John Ashcroft. So did the candidates, editorial > writers, and commentators. > > This silence on the deterioration of the liberties we are fighting to > protect gives Ashcroft all the more encouragement to pursue his plans, > as reported in the October 21 Legal Times, to prepare "a second round > of counterterrorism legislation. . . . Lawmakers could see a draft bill > in January, after the new Congress convenes"--with the Republicans in > control, and most Democratic leaders silent accomplices of Ashcroft. > > Across the country, the 94 United States Attorneys were charged in an > October 1 speech by the attorney general to vigorously enforce the USA > Patriot Act and others of his sorties against civil liberties. In front > of his troops, Ashcroft accused his critics of "capitulating before > freedom's enemies--the terrorists." These dissenters, he added > indignantly, have been subjecting his methods to "disdain and > ridicule." > > By contrast, a staunch patriot, by Ashcroft's definition, is George > Pataki. How many New Yorkers know that on September 16, the governor > took time from campaigning to announce, by executive order, the start > of a new toll-free Statewide Public Security Tips Hot Line that, Pataki > assures us, "will enable citizens from throughout the state to report > information about suspected terrorist activity." > > This is Pataki's version of John Ashcroft's Operation TIPS, which House > Majority Leader Dick Armey, a conservative Republican libertarian, > struck out of the still-pending bill to create a Department of Homeland > Security. Armey insisted that the government should not be encouraging > Americans to spy on one another. > > Pataki, who has been tone-deaf to civil liberties throughout his terms > as governor, has no such compunctions--a point Carl McCall might have > mentioned. Because press coverage of this state's very own Operation > Tips has been minimal, I am grateful to Bob Perry, legislative counsel > for the New York Civil Liberties Union, for information on the scope of > this dangerous Ashcroftean plan to create watch committees, in > neighborhoods and elsewhere, that will report their suspicions not only > to the state hot line but also to the New York Police Department's hot > line. > > Keep in mind that all these tips on "suspicious or unusual activity . . > . will be cross-referenced through federal, state and local databases," > says the Pataki press release. There is no indication that false tips > will eventually be erased from those multiple, intersecting databases. > > In 1984, George Orwell predicted the Ashcrofts and Patakis to come: > "There of course was no way of knowing whether you were being watched > at any given moment." > > The governor should tell us the definition of "suspected terrorist > activity" and "unusual activities." The senior adviser to the governor > on > counterterrorism, James K. Kallstrom--of whom I expected better, because > he commended my civil liberties concerns some months ago--says: > > "We ask that the public use common sense and sound judgment when making > reports to the hot line." Again, what do these terms mean--especially in > the continuing climate of fear of "sleeper" terrorists among us? And > does Kallstrom believe that everyone in the state adheres to what he > may mean by "common sense" and "sound judgment"? > > The governor's press release adds: "If a lead is meaningful and can be > corroborated, the information will be given to the Joint Terrorism Task > Force for investigation." A key element in that Joint Terrorism Task > Force is the FBI--hardly a model of scrupulous care in investigating > leads, as was evident during the decades of COINTELPRO, the FBI's > disgraced program of infiltration and disruption of lawful activities > by civil rights and anti-war groups--and in the shotgun investigations > it has often conducted since then. > > Ashcroft has restored the reckless spirit of COINTELPRO by again giving > the FBI the power to conduct investigations under such loose guidelines > that the Fourth Amendment might as well be obsolete. > > But the Pataki press release--before it says that a lead has to be > "meaningful" and "corroborated" to be turned over to the Joint Terrorism > Task Force--first declares that all tips through the hot line "will be > cross-referenced through federal, state, and local databases." Even if > the leads are not "meaningful" and cannot be "corroborated" > sufficiently to be turned over to the task force? > > The hot line phone numbers have been in operation since September 17 and > "are staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the New York State > Police, working in conjunction with the New York State Office of Public > Security and the Joint Terrorism Task Force." > > Also, the release says that when giving a description of "a suspicious > person, callers should make note of as many physical and behavioral > descriptors as possible. If the person is driving a vehicle, callers > should try to provide the vehicle's license plate, year, make, model, > size and color." > > What about the color or the "foreign" look of these suspicious persons? > Pataki calls the hot line "a powerful new resource" against terrorism. I > would suggest that he left out one crucial word in that phrase: > "blunderbuss resource." > > The United Federation of Teachers and other unions--"progressive" > unions--enthusiastically endorsed Pataki, but I wonder how many of their > innocent members may one day be ensnared in the dragnet of the > governor's Statewide Public Security Tips Hot Line. Leaving office, > George Washington warned that a government of overwhelming power "is > not reason. . . . It is a force like fire, a dangerous servant and a > terrible master." > > But, of course, if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to > worry about. Right? > > By Nat Hentoff > Village Voice > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* > http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail > > > -- > To unsubscribe, send ANY message to > <faithandlife-unsubscribe@...> ----------------------------------------- This email was sent using FREE Catholic Online Webmail. Please tell your family, friends and children about COL Webmail! http://webmail.catholic.org/