Community | January 30, 2012 | 38 comments

Gary Johnson calls for repeal of the Patriot Act

source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/30/gary-johnson-calls-for-repeal-of-the-patriot-act/

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KB723
By Eric W. Dolan
Monday, January 30, 2012 17:08 EST

Former New Mexico governor and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson called for the Patriot Act to be repealed Sunday night during a national American Civil Liberties Union conference.

The controversial counter-terrorism legislation was approved by Congress following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“Ten years ago, we learned that the fastest way to pass a bad law is to call it the ‘Patriot Act’ and force Congress to vote on it in the immediate wake of a horrible attack on the United States,” Johnson said. “The irony is that there is really very little about the Patriot Act that is patriotic. Instead, it has turned out to be yet another tool the government is using to erode privacy, individual freedom and the Constitution itself.”

Civil liberties advocates have condemned the law because it allows authorities to conduct surveillance without identifying the person or location to be wiretapped, permits surveillance of non-U.S. persons who are not affiliated with a terrorist group, and allows law enforcement to gain access to “any tangible thing” during terrorism investigations.

“Benjamin Franklin had it right,” Johnson continued. “‘Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’”

“Absolutely, protecting the American people from those who would do us harm is the federal government’s most basic duty. Everyone gets that. But when harm is done, as on 9-11, it is the nature of government to ask for more power and more authority in order to protect us. That’s how we get laws like the Patriot Act.”

In May of 2011, Obama signed into law a four-year extension of the Patriot Act.

“In fact, we now know that intelligence ‘failures’ of the sort that perhaps allowed 9-11 to happen were not due to a lack of authority, but were most likely the result of dysfunction,” Johnson said. “We can and should fix the dysfunction, but that can be done without granting the government broad new powers to dig in to American’s lives, demand financial records from banks and businesses, and monitor your cell phone because your kid goes to school with a kid whose father might be associated with what might be a terrorist-supporting organization.

“Thoughtful review and actual experience over the past ten years under the Patriot Act have given us the wisdom of hindsight. That hindsight leads me to the firm conclusion that it is a law that we do not need in order to protect ourselves, and that is itself a threat to the very constitutional guarantees of freedom it purports to preserve.”

Johnson, a long-time libertarian, had begun his 2012 presidential campaign as a Republican candidate. But after being barred from participating in GOP debates, he announced his intention to become the nominee of the Libertarian Party in late December.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/30/gary-johnson-calls-for-repeal-of-the-patri...

"I don't care what Party he chooses to represent, I Totally Agree with this gentleman!!!!"
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38 comments // Gary Johnson calls for repeal of the Patriot Act

  • kvb1
    • 0
      kvb1  

    • “In fact, we now know that intelligence ‘failures’ of the sort that perhaps allowed 9-11 to happen were not due to a lack of authority, but were most likely the result of dysfunction,” Johnson said. “We can and should fix the dysfunction, but that can be done without granting the government broad new powers to dig in to American’s lives, demand financial records from banks and businesses, and monitor your cell phone because your kid goes to school with a kid whose father might be associated with what might be a terrorist-supporting organization".

      Richard Clark and others pointed this out. We knew who these people were and where they were until they came to the US. Then the "intelligence" services thought it best to not tell the FBI. Presidency after presidency has demanded that the government talk and share information among the different agencies. Decade after decade we find that it still does not happen.

      I propose that those individuals that withhold information from other departments should be prosecuted for treason ans sedition, and punished to the full extent of the law. Firing people over failures of this magnitude serve no purpose.

    • 4 months ago
  • Crauly_Fingers
    • 0
      Crauly_Fingers  

    • Libertarian Liberals are the only ones addressing this issue faithfully.Those who proudly call themselves Liberal Democrats, are an accessory to oppression and are not Liberals at all.Seems the so-called (Obama) Liberals are really just a bunch Republicans without testicles.

    • 4 months ago
  • kvb1
    • 0
      kvb1  
    • Crauly_Fingers:

      Progressives, who are NOT Libertarians (there is no such thing as a Libertarian Liberal), have been pressing this issue since the Patriot Act was proposed 72 hours before it was voted on. More importantly, Progressives have been addressing the real issues and providing REAL solutions to those issues since the late 1890s!

    • 4 months ago
  • Crauly_Fingers
    • 0
      Crauly_Fingers  
    • kvb1:

      Well your fighting liberal progressives are the ones who both extended and expanded the Patriot Act.Seems to be more of a sellout than a fight.Who are you going to blame?

      LIBERTARIANS only goal is to secure and protect LIBERTY, very much making them LIBERALS.The earliest theoreticians of libertarian classical liberalism were the Levelers during the English Revolution and the philosopher John Locke in the late seventeenth century. John Locke set forth the natural rights of each individual to his person and property; the purpose of government was strictly limited to defending such rights. In the words of the Lockean-inspired Declaration of Independence, "to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....We the People!

      Classical liberalism is often contrasted with a new social liberalism, which is supposed to have developed out of the classical variety "around the 1890's". But social liberalism deviates fundamentally from its namesake at its theoretical root in that it denies the self-regulatory capacity of society. The state is called on to redress social imbalance in increasingly intrusive ways. The plea that it intends to preserve the end of individual freedom, modifying only the means, is to classical liberals hardly to the point — as much could be claimed for most varieties of socialism. In fact, social liberalism can scarcely be distinguished, theoretically and practically, from revisionist socialism. Furthermore, it can be argued that this school of thought did not develop out of classical liberalism around the turn of the century

      The progressive liberals idea that a monolithic government should control every aspect of society is an antithesis to liberalism.It is regressive, sending us back to the period of total control which was the oppression that lead to the birth liberalism.....

    • 4 months ago
  • kvb1
    • 0
      kvb1  
    • Crauly_Fingers:

      Classical Liberalism is what is know in Europe as neo-liberalism or in the US as Reagan conservatism or trickle down economics. Democrats became "liberal" when TR was trashed for busting the Trusts and the old guard was sent packing. The future was in the people, not corporations.

      As for the Liberals voting for the PATRIOT ACT extension, 19 voted against it and only 4 RIPublicans in the Senate. Of the House member that voted against it, 122 were Demorats while on 21 were RIPublicans. I mention this because RIPublicans and Libertarians are more closely aligned then Democrats.

      what many people forget is that if you protect the people, the workers that actually make the money in any business, profits will flow. Happy workers are healthy, work harder and produce better quality and have fewer days off. More people employed means more money circulating in the economy rather than having to be pumped back in through unemployment benefits, medicaid payments, and hospital reimbursements from tax relieve for expensive emergency room care of non emergency care with out insurance.

      No CEO deserves hundreds of millions of dollars for what they do. Money is made or lost where the product meets the consumer. Most companies do not even look past the next quarter because it is all about Wall St and quarterly earnings reports and stock price.

      Look at the most socialistic countries in Europe. Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, non or those countries fell into the financial mess the rest of the world has. They still have socialized medicine from cradle to grave where health and outcomes are more important than treating illness. The income inequities are lower than any other industrialized country, and their economies are not subject to boom and bust cycles.

      No where has libertarianism gained any traction since laisser faire economics collapsed with the fall of Louis XVI, which by the way was a major cause of the French Revolution.

    • 4 months ago
  • Crauly_Fingers
    • 0
      Crauly_Fingers  
    • kvb1:

      While I very much appreciate the quality of your posts, I respectfully disagree, and it's nothing personal. One short commit about Reagan then I'm gone.

      Reagan in no means is of the Libertarian philosophy, in fact he is as much despised by the Libertarian community as he is with progressives, this is not an opinion.Reagan a former Democrat and New Dealer( in support) was a Neo-Conservative or a Republican progressive if you will.He was our first Neo-Con president, GWB being our second GHWB was not a Neo-Con( and actually despised the man) but was heavily influenced by the Reagan crony residue.The Neo-Con foundation can trace their lineage back to the Trotsky Communists from the 20's-40's.Later giving up on Communism they moved into the Democratic Party in the late 40's early 50's as raging Socialists.In the late 60's and early 70's they moved into Republican Party as what I consider to be mild Socio- Fascists.In my opinion because of their roots in the far and radical left is the reason we have a one party system with differences that are only superficial.

      Trickle down economics is Statism a product of the left,Communism,Socialism,Fascism,not free market Capitalism.
      Libertarians are free marketeers,who believe in social or self-regulation backed by law to quell abuse. Centralized planning is a HUGE no no.

      Libertarians are anti-government social control,which maximizes freedom.Freedom is Liberalism.Peace.

    • 4 months ago
  • freehit
    • +2
      freehit  

    • For those who refuse to commit national suicide by voteing Republican or Libertarian and despise what our current president has become, there is another candidate running for the Democratic ticket just added today localy. PASCO COUNTY --
      A Land O' Lakes dentist has thrown his hat into the political ring.

      Dr. Damian Stone, a Democrat, is running for president. Stone, who has suspended his dental practice for the time being, said he agrees with some things President Barack Obama says but wants to take the country in a new direction.

      "I really feel it's the time in my life to take action,'' Stone said.

      A 51-year-old veteran who stands 6-feet-7, Stone is pro-choice, an advocate for gun control, believes in gay marriage and looks to legalizing marijuana as a fix for the country's financial woes.

      "If it (marijuana) is legalized and if it's taxed accordingly, this could go towards balancing the budget,'' he said.

      Stone also is an advocate for universal health care and says reducing outsourcing would help with the country's unemployment rate.

      "If it works for the military...'' Stone said of universal health care. "If it works for prisoners...we should have health care for all citizens of the United States of America."

      Stone, also a published author, has spent the past few weeks asking supervisor of election offices across Florida to add his name to the November ballot.

      Realistic about his chances, Stone says he has already won.

      "As far as I'm concerned, winning is participating in the election."

    • 4 months ago
  • DoctorStone
    • 0
      DoctorStone  
    • Image
    • freehit:

      Thank you for mentioning my campaign within this forum. Among others, certain of the issues which are fundamental to my 2012 United States Presidential Election Campaign are that, if elected; 1.) I fully intend to introduce legislation to erradicate and eliminate 'The Patriot Act' as entirely unconstitutional; 2.) I fully intend to introduce bills to congress to de-criminalize, and legalize all forms of Cannabis; not limited to medical marijuana, but I am an advocate of ending the Prohibition, just as it did not work from 1919 to 1933 with Prohibition of Alcohol, and 3.) I am an advocate of Health Care provided to All Citizens of The United States. I am registered as a Democrat Candidate. Thank You, and thank you all. Dr. Damian Stone, Tampa, Florida. http://www.theprosthodontist.com/

    • 22 days ago
  • galwayman
    • 0
      galwayman  

    • The Patriot Act never should have been passed in the first place,nor should the Homegrown Terrorist Act, Both are not Constitutional.

    • 4 months ago
  • maasanova
  • KB723
  • jimstoner
    • +1
      jimstoner  

    • They will never repeal the Patriot Act. No government in history has ever done something to weaken it's own power. Libertarians won't do it either. It's just not done. Historically, that power has had to be forcibly removed.

    • 4 months ago
  • KB723
    • 0
      KB723  
    • jimstoner:

      Well it could have a Sun Set and never brought to light again, BO really let me down when he decided to expand it instead, but like I have always said, I think he is just a suit for public viewing ie, I don't think he is in charge to begin with...

    • 4 months ago
  • rerushg
  • KB723
  • jubal
  • KB723
  • JohnA
    • +2
      JohnA  

    • Obama won't repeal it, he signed the law to extend it, with an auto-pen, while he was in France. Romney certainly won't. I will vote for Johnson in 2012.

    • 4 months ago
  • KB723
  • JohnA
  • KB723
  • KB723
  • JohnA
  • JohnA
  • KB723
  • KB723
  • JohnA
  • JohnA
    • 0
      JohnA  
    • KB723:

      We should all vote for we think would be the best President of the United States, not for one group or another, one media pick or another, but who we think would be best of our choices for all of us.

    • 4 months ago
  • Leen61
    • +5
      Leen61  

    • "Gary Johnson calls for repeal of the Patriot Act" Excellent! I'm all for it. The Patriot Act was the beginning of the end of our civil liberties.

    • 4 months ago
  • KB723
  • R3zn8D
  • KB723
  • Progresshiv
  • KB723
  • The_Wanderer_Kansas
  • ThatCrazyLibertarian
  • KB723
  • KB723
    • +5
      KB723  

    • Gary Johnson calls for repeal of the Patriot Act

      "I don't care what Party he chooses to represent, I Totally Agree with this gentleman!!!!"

    • 4 months ago
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