I did not vote for Obama... but when he won I was hoping we would see the lefts view of what should work. 1. spending on roads and public transportation. 2. Investment in cleaner energy. 3. end of wars 4. withdrawal of troops from around the world. 5. health care for all and removal from being a burden employers. 6. free family ski trips. I know - pie in the sky but some of it was possible... so far - porkulus, bank bailout, bankers taking over, QE2, wars, potential cap and trade, runaway budget, war, most ridiculous health care bill ever - forcing people to buy. We did get a free family ski trip. We got a check in the mail when my wife went on leave to have a baby. She only works one to 4 days a month yet we still got a surprise check. (that was from CA - not obama anyway but I will credit democrats for all pork.)
This isn't a new story -- he did this back in February (note the date in the article) .... but it's still Change We Can Choke On.
so you have no problem with these three things? ⢠Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. ⢠Allow court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations. ⢠Permit surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group. I have been pulled over probably a dozen or more times when i lived in toronto , as i was leaving a parties as a teenager, every time except 1 they did not search my vehicle, Our vehicle only got searched once, and it was because it reeked like weed. Every other time the cops would just smell the drivers breath and allow you to go. Since i have been living in the states i have been pulled over 3 times for speeding and my car has been searched twice, where they tear my entire car apart to try and find a roach so they can throw the book at me, i dont even do drugs anymore except for extremely rare occasions, i have no criminal record, and they still want to tear my car apart, just so they can lay a charge on me. I drive a 70,000 dollar mercedes, Apparently i look suspicious in their eyes, which justifies them tearing my car apart. It isnt like when i was a kid and we would roll up to a party in a k-car full of liquored up teens. Maybe if i was a punk kid they would have a reason to search my car. Cops in the states are already far more intrusive, based on the above three points you may think "well i have nothing to hide" but one day these assholes will be kicking your door down, with no particular reason, without a warrant just to see if you, might have drugs. Its a slippery slope when you allow government to do whatever it wants as it pertains to your life.
+100 Cops in the usa are fascist psychopaths compared to most police in Canada. Same for most of Europe. The USA "criminal justice" system is broken. Over 1% of the nation lives in prison or jail. Highest both in terms of % and absolute number of people jailed on earth. Give me a candidate who campaigns on reforming the fascist law enforcement practices in the USA and I'd vote for him no matter what else they wanted to do. Law enforcement in the US is absurd. Then they wonder why cops keep getting their brains blown out...
People down here dont get it because they have been conditioned to believe that what the cops here do is normal. Anyone who has been pulled over anywhere outside the u.s. would understand that the cops in the u.s. are far more intrusive then anywhere else, by a LONG SHOT. The first time i got pulled over and they asked to search my car in the middle of the day, i looked at the guy incredulously and asked "are you serious." And then he told me if i didnt get out of the car he was going to taze me. I have never questioned a cop since then while i have lived down here. The way the police behave in the united states is surreal, and its all the more reason i dont want them having any more ability to intrude into my life.
Is what you've described "court approved" though? It doesn't sound like it to me, it sounds like the arbitrary actions of cops on the street. I took "court approved" to mean that the cops had to get a warrant, basically. And I am most definitely not in the "nothing to hide" camp. In fact I'd like to have a bumper sticker or something that says, "Police cameras in every bedroom, police software on every computer: if you're not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to hide." [I thought maybe such a sticker might get the point across to the average Joe.]