The Patriot Act
By Seth Ward
The Who's
The Patriot was passed on October 26th, 2001 under President Bush. The Patriot Act was made in response to the 9/11 attacks on the world trade center, and was made to give the government more power to stop terrorist attacks. At the time America was still in shock and would do anything to stop further atrocities from happening.
To some the Patriot act has been a bad thing Perspective #1
Some people say that the Patriot Act is a drastic overreach of the powers of the federal government, and that the Patriot Act destroys citizens rights. They specifically refer to the right to privacy. A citizens right to privacy is destroyed by the Patriot Act because it gives government entities such as the NSA the power to search through your life without reason, cause, or suspicion. Although many citizens believe the intentions of the Patriot Act were good (to stop terrorists) the right to privacy has become more dearly held with the popularization of the Internet.
Others say that the Patriot Act is needed to stop potential terrorists. Perspective #2
Some people say that the Patriot Act stops potential terrorists, and that as long as you have nothing to hide who cares about the right to privacy. These people say that the government should stop at nothing to stop another 9/11 including the trampling of all citizens rights.
Media Bias and the Patriot Act. Media Bias
At the time of the Patriot Act's passing the media said that the law was going to help stop terrorism, and there was little to no talk about how it would allow the government to spy on it's own citizens. On June 5th, 2013, Edward Snowden, an NSA analyst leaked hard proof that the Government, and more specifically the NSA is spying on it's citizens without cause. The media immediately brought the news of this drastic overreach of power to the attention of the American People. The media then began to talk abut how bad the Patriot Act which allows such things is, and that is a drastic turnaround for when the Patriot Act was being passed.
The Patriot Act is an overreach of the power of the government. Criticism #1
The Patriot Act gives the government power it was never meant to have. Power to do nearly anything it wants in the name of national security. This type of power was never given to any government in any country on this earth before 9/11 and the passing of the Patriot Act. 9/11 and the Patriot Act are usually mentioned in tandem because they are the cause and effect.
The Patriot Act is an invasion of citizens rights. Criticism #2
The Patriot Act has been used by the NSA, the FBI, and who knows who else to without cause or suspicion infringe on the rights of American Citizens. It was a bill that was drafted and passed in the wake of the worst terrorist attack in the history of the world, and therefore the public was blind to the breach of citizens rights this bill would eventually cause.
What Is The Patriot Act?