Post by urbanknight4 on Dec 12, 2014 13:36:13 GMT -5
I found something pretty disturbing today... It looks like Congress has proposed a bill that will give police officers unrestricted access to our private communications and whatnot. This means that everything you do could possibly be monitored by some dude, and all your communications could be stored for later perusing.
The important bit here is how the bill was passed. Apparently the congressmen used a voice vote, one of the easiest and fastest ways to pass a vote, in order to vote for the bill. A voice vote is something like what we see in the movies- a bunch of dudes saying yea or nay to vote for or against the topic at hand.
The interesting part of this vote is that it isn't kept in record, meaning that perhaps Congress isn't exactly being transparent with their dealings- this is tantamount to sneaking a bit of major legislation right under our noses.
Congressman Justin Amash, however, is not trying to sneak anything past us. In fact, he said this about the bill: “...one of the most egregious sections of law I’ve encountered during my time as a representative: It grants the executive branch virtually unlimited access to the communications of every American.”
If everyone were to contact their representative and get them to act like Mr. Amash, then this bill wouldn't endanger our privacy.
I know that some of you may be thinking "if you have nothing to hide, don't fight it", but that is not the simple truth of the matter. When dealing with the government, we are supposed to distrust them. After all, our founding fathers themselves said that a government is made solely to serve the people, and should therefore change itself to the needs of its constituents. I personally do not want this bill passed. I don't have any illegal stuff in my computer, I don't watch anything I shouldn't, and I'm not a cybercriminal. However, it's precisely because of that that I don't want this. My computer should me mine, not mine and some government company's. I do not consent to this, and I can only think of the power this could grant the executive branch if it passed.
If you think about it rationally, these are the people that handle our lives for us. We put our vote (and our trust) in them, and in turn they run the country, run the cops, run the military, run our economy for us. They are all powerful within resonable limits, and with this bill they could find a ton of uses for their own agendas. There are evil people everywhere, and the government is no exception. What if a candidate was inconvenient to somebody? Simply dig up their records and blackmail them if they have anything bad. I mean, I don't want to sound like one of those guys with a "The End Is Nigh" sign, but people have to think about what they're getting into if this bill is passed.
Congressman Justin Amash, however, is not trying to sneak anything past us. In fact, he said this about the bill: “...one of the most egregious sections of law I’ve encountered during my time as a representative: It grants the executive branch virtually unlimited access to the communications of every American.”
If everyone were to contact their representative and get them to act like Mr. Amash, then this bill wouldn't endanger our privacy.
I know that some of you may be thinking "if you have nothing to hide, don't fight it", but that is not the simple truth of the matter. When dealing with the government, we are supposed to distrust them. After all, our founding fathers themselves said that a government is made solely to serve the people, and should therefore change itself to the needs of its constituents. I personally do not want this bill passed. I don't have any illegal stuff in my computer, I don't watch anything I shouldn't, and I'm not a cybercriminal. However, it's precisely because of that that I don't want this. My computer should me mine, not mine and some government company's. I do not consent to this, and I can only think of the power this could grant the executive branch if it passed.
If you think about it rationally, these are the people that handle our lives for us. We put our vote (and our trust) in them, and in turn they run the country, run the cops, run the military, run our economy for us. They are all powerful within resonable limits, and with this bill they could find a ton of uses for their own agendas. There are evil people everywhere, and the government is no exception. What if a candidate was inconvenient to somebody? Simply dig up their records and blackmail them if they have anything bad. I mean, I don't want to sound like one of those guys with a "The End Is Nigh" sign, but people have to think about what they're getting into if this bill is passed.
Here is the actual bill for those of you that want to read it and maybe offer us a better understanding of the implications:
www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4681
And here is the news article where this all started:
thefreethoughtproject.com/breaking-congress-secretly-okd-nsa-spying-domestic-criminal-cases-focused-torture/
Give me your thoughts, guys. What should be done about this bill, and how will it affect our lives if it is made into law?
www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4681
And here is the news article where this all started:
thefreethoughtproject.com/breaking-congress-secretly-okd-nsa-spying-domestic-criminal-cases-focused-torture/
Give me your thoughts, guys. What should be done about this bill, and how will it affect our lives if it is made into law?