Patriot Act And Domestic Suveilance

Today, I faxed the following letter to both Florida Senators, Mel Martinez (Bush Admin Shill), and Bill Nelson.

Dear Senator:

This is what things like the PATRIOT Act have brought us to. Perhaps the Constitution should be moved from the Washington area to a safer location (maybe Canada can hold it for us until our own government  is grown up enough to know how to use it safely). Apparently no one in Washington is over 21 years old. Obviously our previous lessons about the dangers of domestic surveillance by government agencies have been forgotten.

WASHINGTON – A year ago, at a Quaker Meeting House in Lake Worth, Fla., a small group of activists met to plan a protest of military recruiting at local high schools. What they didn’t know was that their meeting had come to the attention of the U.S. military.

A secret 400-page Defense Department document obtained by NBC News lists the Lake Worth meeting as a “threat” and one of more than 1,500 “suspicious incidents” across the country over a recent 10-month period.

I am begging you to please step up to the plate and provide the oversight that is the Senate’s responsibility. If the DoD has the resources for this, they don’t need any additional money for their war efforts. Come on here…surely even you do not believe the Quakers are a threat to America?

I would like for you or your staff to offer to me an explanation as to why this government is engaged is this type of activity, and I would, more importantly, like for you to explain why Congress is permitting and funding these types of operations. I do not agree to have my tax dollars spent in this way, and I expect you to do all in your power to “de-fund” these programs.

And please put a halt to the destruction of our Constitutional Rights, and allow the PATRIOT Act to die an appropriate death at the end of this year. It is clearly bad law, and making federal agencies feel emboldened in their unnecessary and illegal intrusions into the lives of citizens.