(MT ) House condemns Patriot Act

[rodeodance]

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/04/02/build/state/68-pat-act.inc

April 2, 2005
House condemns Patriot Act

By JENNIFER McKEE
Gazette State Bureau

HELENA - Montana lawmakers overwhelmingly passed what its sponsor called the nation's most strongly worded criticism of the federal Patriot Act on Friday, uniting politicians of all stripes.

The resolution, which already galloped through the Senate and passed the House 88-12 Friday, must survive a final vote before it officially passes.

Senate Joint Resolution 19, sponsored by Sen. Jim Elliott, D-Trout Creek, says that while the 2005 Legislature supports the federal government's fight against terrorism, the so-called Patriot Act of 2001 granted authorities sweeping powers that violate citizens' rights enshrined in both the U.S. and Montanan constitutions.
.......

The resolution asks Montana's attorney general to review any state intelligence information and destroy it if is not tied directly to suspected criminals. It also asks the attorney general to find out how many Montanans have been arrested under the Patriot Act and how many people have been subject to so-called "sneak and peaks," or government searches of a person's property without the person's knowledge.
......

[camitche]

1. Well played Montana

I sure hope this trends sweeps the nation.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

10. You and me both

The fact that most Americans have ignored this unconstitutional monstrosity, the Patriot Act, should concern all freedom loving Americans.

[napi21]

2. Well, that's great for Mt. but the Pat. Act is FED!

What if all 50 states denounce it and decide to shread everything?

Good idea, but it probably won't happen!

[struggle4progress]

17. This is simply another way to lobby Congress. As a tactic, ...

... the use of such statements by state legislatures has gone in and out of fashion over the years. The reason to think that it might work is simply that it strongly reminds Congressfolk about opinions back in the home state. But whether it really works or not, it's a good organizing tactic.

[ixion]

3. Montana joins the ranks of TRUE patriots...

any freedom-loving American should be appalled at that wholly unconstitutional piece of trash.

the unPATRIOTic Act is unconstitutional and should be repealed immediately.

[rodeodance]

4. doesn't Cheney own a summer home there? first home?

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

8. You're thinking of Wyoming.

[aquart]

5. God bless Montana.

They can try to find out who got sneak and peaked, but I bet the Patriot Act says the Fed doesn't have to tell them.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

11. I was going to say on their efforts there. - GFL

[NVMojo]

6. I am really loving Montana these days! Thanks, Montana!!!

[Geo55]

7. Attention , Montana voters !

Bob Lake is an A**HOLE

"Twelve representatives - all Republicans - voted against the measure, including Rep. Bob Lake, R-Hamilton.

"I don't like resolutions because they do absolutely nothing," he said in an interview after the vote. He also said the resolution was too vague.

Is it a sacrifice of personal liberty to not be able to take a gun on an airplane? he asked. Is that the kind of thing this resolution objects to?
NO , DICKHEAD, Breaking n' entering without a warrant ,


"So, they're going to get this thing back in D.C. and say, 'O.K., Montana doesn't like what we're doing. So what?,' " he said. "It has no meaning to it."

[Freedom_from_Chains]

12. Neither did the DOI

But it sure got a hell of a big party going.

[Geo55]

13. Perhaps ,

this "no meaning to it."
resolution should be distributed throughout the land.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

16. Or perhaps

It should be encouraged in other states. The point is we could all benifit by getting people too think about this subject some more.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

18. Our mayor here in Portland is fighting the

Terrorism Task Force. They don't want to let him know what his own officers are doing, and Oregon statutes have been broken before using Patriot act techniques...


http://www.katu.com/stories/75941.html

snip>
But the City Council had questioned whether it should renew its role in the task force if federal officials refuse to grant top secret clearance to the mayor and police chief. That could expand the city's oversight over any FBI anti-terror operations that include Portland police officers.

Robert Jordan, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Portland division, said there is no precedent for granting top secret clearance to an elected municipal official. For now, officers assigned to the task force have higher security clearance than Potter or police chief Derrick Foxworth, who currently has a higher level of clearance than the mayor.

The resolution ensures that "we protect all people who live in Portland: protect their property, protect their lives, protect their rights," Potter said.


here's what the freepers are saying...


To: crazyhorse691
"Oregon law says police can't investigate a person or a group based on religion or political affiliation."

Good to know that Islamofascist members of Hamas are safe in Oregon.
5 posted on 03/29/2005 1:24:21 PM PST by PeterFinn


To: crazyhorse691
We are living through a dangerous time. War on terror confronts shadowy adherents to a radical religious sect bearing little likeness to Muslim faith and committed to our eradication. Within this generation, those trained in Wahhabi jihadism will earn graduate degrees in physical sciences and engineering, enabling them to execute repeated cataclysmic attacks. Such tragedies from Carthage to Rwanda conservatively devoured 1% to 5% of societies. However, they need benign and/or supportive environments to achieve damage on that scale.

Portland’s feckless and improvident withdrawal from the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force proclaims a benign environment relished by terrorists. The move also aids coercion of the expatriate Arab community by the vicious criminals who too often govern their native lands.

Repudiating vital action, the city embraces concerns about disturbances of rights to complacency, comfort, and self-actualization through enabling behaviors. These people desire intellectual comfort food supporting serenity, and apathy, spiced with selective moral exhibitionism. War has come to our shores, but they still prefer the sleep induced by foreign policy models defining necessity, proportional response, multilateralism, and exit strategy to ensure we turn a blind eye, agonize over the body count, or cut and run.

Must Portland become a homeland for terrorist sponsored national tragedies, before we finally realize a horribly dangerous world is seeking to overtake us?

16 posted on 04/02/2005 10:08:11 PM PST by Retain Mike



Be afraid! Be very Afraid!!

[havocmom]

14. Sadly, I don't live in his district. But this is gonna hurt his ass next

election. The point is, dissent and objection HAS TO BE VOICED. It is the American thing to do when assholes try to walk on you! Using whiney excuses not to do so will not convince anyone Bob Lake is not just a ball-less enabler of the junta.

The feds watch us pretty close. Sometimes a red state is just not as gullible as the junta would like. The lesson Custer learned probably still echos in their minds. This is a long way from the Beltway.

I would like to remind all of you that Ashcroft, the guy who busted Tommy Chong for bongs and led the FBI to the Big Easy where they arrested 12 hookers, resigned right after Montana passed a medical marijuana initiative. Coincidence? Or was Ashcroft just not up to ridin' into town to uphold federal law in these parts?

[0007]

19. "The feds watch us pretty close." We have no idea how close,

but one can feel the heat and read the tell tell signs if protesting this administration.

[havocmom]

25. Around where I live, we know a lot of the extent on the 'watching'.

We can drive to the gated, fenced outpost of electronic equipment that is tied into our co-op phone system. Hard to hide technicians coming in to service it in a town of 350. Hard to hide any group of outsiders in a county where most everybody has lived all their lives and the total county population is about half the enrollment of an urban high school.

After 9-11, when the no-fly order was still in affect, a rancher took his small plane up to get into Glasgow for a tractor part. In all fairness to him, it is VERY possible he did not know about the attack on the WTC or the no-fly order. He was in the air less than 10 minutes when he was met by fighter pilots who ordered him down NOW. We know they are everywhere and watching everything.

As far as actually entering homes in my area, well that would be really hard. entering hard drives, no problem, but homes, they would damn near have to tunnel in cuz neighbors know everyone, are all well armed, and not inclined to watch strangers violate property. Out of town, might be different, as ranch homes are pretty far flung. But then, ranchers have a tendency to come and go at odd time and generally have wives or kin at home too.

We know they are taking pictures from high up. We know they have the phone lines. Funny thing is, the folks around here used to be convinced the UN was gonna come marching in. Now, just about everybody has figured out that the guys at the top of the Federal Government are the puppets of the Corporations. It is interesting to see the lights going on around here.

Montana will be a fun place to watch in coming months. The population is pretty traditional, but not in the way the Beltway likes to believe.

[Zorra]

9. Twelve representatives - all Republicans - voted against the measure....

They hate us for our freedom.

But good for the repubs that voted for it, at least we know that a few republicans retain a measure of sanity and common sense.`

[hootinholler]

15. YEEEHAAAWWW! Ridem Cowboys!

Now how do I get this done in Md. too?

-Hoot

OnEdit: I'm thinkin Montana instead of Canada now. Gonna raise me some dental floss.

[DirtyDawg]

20. Meanwhile, back in Georgia...

...the Republican-led legislature has people, maybe even their supporters, grumbling about the do-nothing, and what you do do is partisan as hell, effort in the session just ending. Hell, I'm not sure what they did except pass a bill that requires a photo ID to vote - remember, the repigs already have the electronic voting machines 'gamed' in this state, so it doesn't matter who's voting and what they look like, so this was a no-brainer for them. Oh yes, they also pushed for a bill to keep voters, and the press, from finding out about the inner-workings of elected officials and their decisions.

[jazzjunkysue]

21. So, I'll move to Montana.

Thank you.

[anarchy1999]

22. Finally! This needs to stay kicked up for days on end!

Thank you Montana, and no, Cheney says his home is Wyoming.

[emald]

23. Real patriots come from Montana

Or so it appears. Bush and his gang are guilty of sedition, the destruction of the US. Maybe it's time for revolution, again. This patriot act shredded the constitution for a terror that exists only in the minds of Bush and company. Sure there are terrorists and they sit in office in Wash DC.

[havocmom]

26. A couple decades ago, there used to be a reunion held in Helena in

summer. A lot of WWII vets would meet up and talk old times. They were the sons of homesteaders and many never got to town much as they grew up. They and their Canadian comrades were the forerunners of today's elite special forces. They had been young men who grew up depending on knowledge and skill at living off the land and surviving without outside support. Their skills were utilized by the Armed Forces in WWII in places and ways you are not likely to read about in most history books. They were way ahead of the armies, living, fighting alone and getting the information the Generals needed.

They had every right to be proud of what they did. They were generally quiet and humble, good natured and congenial when the reunions were held. They came home from the war, went about their lives, raised their families, taught their lessons.

The spirit of those quiet, solitary warriors is not gone from this place. Despite abominations like Rasciot-the corporate sell out, most people here about still believe in America. As the lies get exposed, these people are standing against the people telling those lies.

Sure there are a lot of RW sentiments around here, but I counted votes on the night on Nov 2 and there were also votes for Kerry, Nader and the marijuana initiative passed. These people just cannot be put in pigeon holes and they really do love and care about our nation.

[TygrBright]

24. Montana is not exactly the canary in the coal mine, folks...

While what's going on in Montana is interesting (and encouraging,) it represents a pretty unique confluence of circumstances that isn't likely to be replicated elsewhere any time soon.

What we're seeing here is a somewhat anomalous conjunction between the Montana "old timers" -- which include a heavy representation of hard-core anti-government, libertarian, leave-me-aloners; and the "incomers" of the last twenty years, the nouveau riches back-to-nature liberals who've been flooding into the state.

They don't agree on much, other than the need to keep the government from messing with their privacy.

(Although some very interesting and surprising developments in the environmental preservation vs. individual property rights arena are starting to sprout like mushrooms, as well.)

Montana's population is small enough and non-urban enough to make these two (comparatively) small groups quite significant in the overall politics of the state.

It's not likely to happen elsewhere except possibly Wyoming. But thus far, Wyoming has been absent the significant inmigration that has affected Montana politics over the last 20 years.

Still, by any measure, it's a pie in the face for the Evil Empire, and that's gotta be one on the plus side of the ledger.

temperately,
Bright

[oxbow]

27. Get your goddam government out of my face!

Hell yea. If the GOP want to become the new Big brother, than it's fine by me if we are the new champions against government intervention. The Terri Schiavo hubbub, the PATRIOT act and all this other bs shows how these people aren't conservatives at all, but something far more sinister. I swear to God, IF THE DEMOCRATS DON'T HOLD THESE BASTARDS' FEET TO THE FIRE COME 2006 AND WIN BACK SOME SEATS IN CONGRESS, I'M FORMING MY OWN DAMN PARTY!!! They're practically shooting themselves in the head at this point.

All you Montananites, keep us posted on how the final vote goes on this. And if it passes, everybody be ready to blitz the media with the story.