{"id":2531,"date":"2011-02-13T20:56:19","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T01:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=2531"},"modified":"2011-02-13T21:55:52","modified_gmt":"2011-02-14T02:55:52","slug":"trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/13\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\/","title":{"rendered":"Trashing the Patriot Act at CPAC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christian Gomez <\/strong>of the New American<\/strong> wrote an excellent article on the Patriot Act bashing during CPAC. Here’s a few outtakes from his piece<\/strong><\/a>dealing with my spiel at CPAC on Saturday: <\/p>\n

Bovard started his speech by asking the audience: \u201cI\u2019d like to know how many people in this room have had their phone calls wiretapped by the Feds?\u201d Members of the audience asked back, \u201cThat we know of?\u201d and, \u201cWho knows?\u201d To which Bovard replied: \u201cWell, that\u2019s the whole point!\u201d He went on to ask the audience the same question in regards to e-mails, but overall his point was that nobody really knows whose calls or e-mails are being monitored. Bovard noted too that communications could be altered or manipulated through careful audio splicing or deletion of certain words or phrases in order to change the meaning of the message \u2014 and bring it into agreement with whatever case law enforcement officials have made against the accused.<\/p>\n

Bovard congratulated Campaign for Liberty for defeating the Patriot Act \u2014 which he described as \u201cJohn Boehner\u2019s anti-freedom joyride\u201d \u2014 last week. Bovard noted that there was an overlap between the members who voted against the Act and those who attend Ron Paul\u2019s weeklly study meetings. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see that Ron Paul\u2019s efforts to work with other Republicans are bearing fruit,\u201d Bovard acknowledged adding on, \u201cI\u2019ve always been amazed of how much patience Congressman Paul has on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bovard said that that the Patriot Act \u201ctreats every American like a suspected terrorist and treats every federal agent like a proven angel.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the issue of information gathering, he said \u201cit should come in the form of warnings that any information the government gathers can and will be used against you, if the government decides you are an enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to issue a detailed condemnation of the Patriot Act’s Section 215, which deals with the National Security Letters. Under this section, the federal government \u201csubpoenas and issues de facto search warrants,\u201d and the FBI seizes records “that show where a person makes or spends his money, with whom he lives or lived before, and how much he gambles, what he buys online, what he finds and borrows, where he travels, how he invests, what he searches for and reads on the Web, and who telephones or e-mails him at home or work, according to the Washington Post,\u201d Bovard said.<\/p>\n

He went to say that the federal government issues in a year about 50,000 National Security Letters, and that just one of those letters can affect thousands of Americans. \u201cThe National Security Letters have turned the Fourth Amendment on its head, by creating the presumption that the government is entitled to personal or confidential information,\u201d he explained. He said the targets of these letters can go to a federal judge and challenge the letters them, but only if the have the money to undertake this action, which \u201ccan easily cost ten, fifteen, or twenty thousand dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Founding Fathers placed the Fourth Amendment in the Constitution so the federal government would have to provide specific information indicating criminal wrong doing about a specific person at a specific time,\u201d Bovard added.<\/p>\n

Bovard went on to ask the audience another good question: \u201cYou have most of the GOP stampeding to make sure that federal agencies under Obama continue to have mass surveillance powers over Americans \u2014 Why?\u201d Bovard continued, \u201cHow does the GOP benefit from letting the other party spy on them.\u201d The reason for this, Bovard explained, is because \u201cCongressmen simply don\u2019t give a damn about federal agencies violating American\u2019s privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even after the fact that it was exposed by the New York Times that thousands of Americans had been the victim of warrantless wiretaps, President George W. Bush maintained his steadfast commitment to the Act, which prompted Bovard to remark: \u201cIt\u2019s an outrage that Bush and others have not been indicted<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Bovard concluded his speech with a call to patriotism and to end the Patriot Act:<\/p>\n

The Patriot Act is systematic of a government gone out of control. Keep in mind that a democratic government that respects no limits on its power is a ticking time bomb waiting to destroy the rights it was created to protect.<\/p>\n

America needs a higher greater patriotism. It is not patriotic to ignore violations of the Constitution; It is not patriotic to look the other way as politicians ravage rights; It is not patriotic to pretend that politicians are entitled to all of the power they can grab until they are either impeached or indicted; and it is not patriotic to give the benefit of the doubt to people that are trying to shackle you.<\/p>\n

Getting rid of the Patriot Act will be a small step towards making government less dangerous and making Washington less noxious. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After the event, The New American asked Bovard about the prospects of Congress repealing the Patriot Act. He was not optimistic. \u201cPay attention and get some courage,\u201d he added. \u201cCongress doesn\u2019t simply pay attention. Congress doesn\u2019t care about the abuses. Congress only cares about their campaign donors.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked his thoughts about the full range of possible 2012 Presidential candidates, as to which ones exhibited libertarian principles and would likely veto the Patriot Act, Bovard responded: “Well there isn\u2019t any candidate who\u2019s close to Ron Paul when it comes to being principled and courageous; and Ron Paul has got a record as far back as 1996-97 as far as I was being active. Ron Paul is who he says; he does what he promises. So you know that\u2019s unnatural for a politician, but most of the other candidates are damn rascals<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christian Gomez of the New American wrote an excellent article on the Patriot Act bashing during CPAC. Here’s a few outtakes from his piecedealing with my spiel at CPAC on Saturday: Bovard started his speech by asking the audience: \u201cI\u2019d like to know how many people in this room have had their phone calls wiretapped […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[659,22,10,17,11,33,666,657,655],"class_list":{"0":"post-2531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"tag-attention-deficit-democracy","8":"tag-bush","9":"tag-elective-dictatorship","10":"tag-justice-department","11":"tag-patriot-act","13":"tag-rule-of-law","14":"tag-wiretapping"},"yoast_head":"\nTrashing the Patriot Act at CPAC - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/13\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trashing the Patriot Act at CPAC - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christian Gomez of the New American wrote an excellent article on the Patriot Act bashing during CPAC. Here’s a few outtakes from his piecedealing with my spiel at CPAC on Saturday: Bovard started his speech by asking the audience: \u201cI\u2019d like to know how many people in this room have had their phone calls wiretapped […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/13\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-14T01:56:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-02-14T02:55:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Trashing the Patriot Act at CPAC\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-14T01:56:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-14T02:55:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":958,\"commentCount\":10,\"keywords\":[\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Attention Deficit Democracy\",\"Bush\",\"Elective Dictatorship\",\"Justice Department\",\"Patriot Act\",\"Patriot Act\",\"Rule of Law\",\"Wiretapping\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trashing the Patriot Act at CPAC - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-14T01:56:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-14T02:55:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2011\\\/02\\\/13\\\/trashing-the-patriot-act-at-cpac\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Trashing the Patriot Act at CPAC\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. 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The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2531"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2538,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2531\/revisions\/2538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}