Request for help re: Patriot Act (and a good report from a NC County Convention)

[hawks4ronpaul]

A few points I recall that you can search to confirm:

• PATRIOT is a capitalized acronym in USA PATRIOT Act.
• No new laws are needed because the terrorists are not tougher than the Soviet KGB were.
• They say they will not spy domestically but they claim they need new powers because globalization erases the international/national line, so by their own premise even the old powers might be more domestically intrusive now than when first passed.
• The expiration of the recent wiretap law DOES NOT PREVENT A SINGLE WIRETAP, it just means the executive needs a normal judicial warrant instead of the reckless self-approval process.
• "But we've used these powers in cases against terrorists X, Y, and Z" does not prove that the powers are needed, as they also could have used a lucky rabbit's foot during those cases but that would not prove that rabbit's feet catch terrorists.
• The executive already abused its new powers with the use of new anti-terror powers to fire federal prosecutors for partisan political reasons, the illegal use of warrantless "letters," and the illegal collection of phonecall data from the phone companies. This litany of abuses in a short time after gaining new powers is why administration spokespeople say legalistic things about CURRENTLY complying with law--and that is only as far as we know since they also claim secrecy.
• The administration turned the right to privacy on its head by arguing that you have less right to privacy but the government has a right of privacy FROM YOU to prevent you from knowing what it is doing, at which point the entire American system breaks down.
• The old joke is very true, "official secrets" exist not to protect national secrets but to protect officials.
• An administration intelligence official tried to argue that we need a new definition of "privacy"=the government collects data on you but promises to keep it secret. Of course, this is the same government that loses veterans' personal information, accidentally shipped nuclear fuses to Chinese insurgents (Taiwan, a rebel province according to Beijing), and misplaced several nuclear weapons (Air Force nukes flew around country without proper clearance).
• Government secrecy is itself a danger to us, which is why the Founders felt that America was more likely to destroy itself rather than be destroyed by foreigners.
• Homeland Security nonsense: http://hawks4ronpaul.blogspot.com/2007/12/strengthen-intelligence-by-cutting.html