New Secret Police Created in Patriot Act

[fastpat]

Wonder what their uniforms will look like?

January 23, 2006
Unfathomed Dangers in Patriot Act Reauthorization

By Paul Craig Roberts

A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV.

Go to House Report 109-333 -USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 and check it out for yourself. Sec. 605 reads:

"There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the ’United States Secret Service Uniformed Division’."

This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security."

The new police are empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony."

The new police are assigned a variety of jurisdictions, including "an event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance" (SENS).

"A special event of national significance" is neither defined nor does it require the presence of a "protected person" such as the president in order to trigger it. Thus, the administration, and perhaps the police themselves, can place the SENS designation on any event. Once a SENS designation is placed on an event, the new federal police are empowered to keep out and to arrest people at their discretion.

The language conveys enormous discretionary and arbitrary powers. What is "an offense against the United States"? What are "reasonable grounds"?

You can bet that the Alito/Roberts court will rule that it is whatever the executive branch says.

The obvious purpose of the act is to prevent demonstrations at Bush/ Cheney events. However, nothing in the language limits the police powers from being used only in this way. Like every law in the US, this law also will be expansively interpreted and abused. It has dire implications for freedom of association and First Amendment rights. We can take for granted that the new federal police will be used to suppress dissent and to break up opposition. The Brownshirts are now arming themselves with a Gestapo.

Many naive Americans will write to me to explain that this new provision in the reauthorization of the "Patriot Act" is necessary to protect the president and other high officials from terrorists or from harm at the hands of angry demonstrators: "No one else will have anything to fear." Some will accuse me of being an alarmist, and others will say that it is unpatriotic to doubt the law’s good intentions.

Americans will write such nonsense despite the fact that the president and foreign dignitaries are already provided superb protection by the Secret Service. The naive will not comprehend that the president cannot be endangered by demonstrators at SENS at which the president is not present. For many Americans, the light refuses to turn on.

In Nazi Germany did no one but Jews have anything to fear from the Gestapo?

By Stalin’s time Lenin and Trotsky had eliminated all members of the "oppressor class," but that did not stop Stalin from sending millions of "enemies of the people" to the Gulag.

It is extremely difficult to hold even local police forces accountable. Who is going to hold accountable a federal police protected by Homeland Security and the president?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts142.html

Paul Craig Roberts is the author with Lawrence M. Stratton of The Tyranny of Good Intentions : How Prosecutors and Bureaucrats Are Trampling the Constitution in the Name of Justice.

Some new job opportunities for you neo-cons out there. M-dose?

[Rick Lee]

Pat, either you made this up or someone is very misinformed. The Uniformed Secret Service have been around forever. They are the guys who guard the embassies in DC and work the WH and OEOB gates. They belong to Treasury. Everyone in DC knows this and sees them on a daily basis.

Oh, and you can see their uniforms on the USSS website. In warm weather it's a white shirt, black pants and black hat. They carry SIG Sauer P228's. Their squad cars are white with a US Treasury seal on the doors. Very common sight around here.

[dtw]

Gee, he couldn't have picked those excerpts more strategically even if he tried. And I'm sure he did. The rest of the story:


From Sec. 3056A(a):
...the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division shall perform such duties as the Director, United States Secret Service, may prescribe in connection with the protection of the following:

`(1) The White House in the District of Columbia.

`(2) Any building in which Presidential offices are located.

`(3) The Treasury Building and grounds.

`(4) The President, the Vice President (or other officer next in the order of succession to the Office of President), the President-elect, the Vice President-elect, and their immediate families.

`(5) Foreign diplomatic missions located in the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia.

`(6) The temporary official residence of the Vice President and grounds in the District of Columbia.

`(7) Foreign diplomatic missions located in metropolitan areas (other than the District of Columbia) in the United States where there are located twenty or more such missions headed by full-time officers, except that such protection shall be provided only--

`(A) on the basis of extraordinary protective need;

`(B) upon request of an affected metropolitan area; and

`(C) when the extraordinary protective need arises at or in association with a visit to--

`(i) a permanent mission to, or an observer mission invited to participate in the work of, an international organization of which the United States is a member; or

`(ii) an international organization of which the United States is a member;

except that such protection may also be provided for motorcades and at other places associated with any such visit and may be extended at places of temporary domicile in connection with any such visit.

`(8) Foreign consular and diplomatic missions located in such areas in the United States, its territories and possessions, as the President, on a case-by-case basis, may direct.

`(9) Visits of foreign government officials to metropolitan areas (other than the District of Columbia) where there are located twenty or more consular or diplomatic missions staffed by accredited personnel, including protection for motorcades and at other places associated with such visits when such officials are in the United States to conduct official business with the United States Government.

`(10) Former Presidents and their spouses, as provided in section 3056(a)(3) of title 18.

`(11) An event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance.

`(12) Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates, as provided in section 3056(a)(7) of title 18.

`(13) Visiting heads of foreign states or foreign governments.

From Title 18, Part II, Chapter 203, Sec 3056(e):
(e)
(1) When directed by the President, the United States Secret Service is authorized to participate, under the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security, in the planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations at special events of national significance, as determined by the President.
(2) At the end of each fiscal year, the President through such agency or office as the President may designate, shall report to the Congress—
(A) what events, if any, were designated special events of national significance for security purposes under paragraph (1); and
(B) the criteria and information used in making each designation.

I'll leave those capable of independent thought to draw their own conclusions based on the inclusion of these addtional quotes...

[bryanthompson]

[dtw]

Bryan makes a good point, too...

[fastpat]

If these ShutzStaffelen had been around forever, then the creating language wouldn't be in the Patriot Act.

Will someone get a tractor, I'd recommend a John Deere 4720, and help poor Bryan. I am curious about one thing, though, why did he post a self portrait in this thread, it's a non sequitur, or was it a cry for help?

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by fastpat
If these ShutzStaffelen had been around forever, then the creating language wouldn't be in the Patriot Act.

Will someone get a tractor, I'd recommend a John Deere 4720, and help poor Bryan. I am curious about one thing, though, why did he post a self portrait in this thread, it's a non sequitur, or was it a cry for help?

Slopat,

Really wish you would do your research before putting your foot, no, whole leg, in your mouth.

You are confused as usual. Bryan was the one who took the photo of you shown above. Someone had to hold and focus the camera, and considering where your head has been, and is now, it surely is not you.

So now you are comparing our law enforcement people to the Nazi SS? What a wonderful move that is, excellent support for the men and women who are protecting you this very minute.

[fastpat]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Mr. fastpat, sir



So now you are comparing our law enforcement people to the Nazi SS? What a wonderful move that is, excellent support for the men and women who are protecting you this very minute.

You bet I am, homey.

[VaSteve]

Wow that is funny. Even I knew the uniformed division existed. One guy lives on my street. BTW, how "secret" could the Secret Service realy be....they have "secret" in their name!

[Mr_Wizard]

Hey Pat,

I bet your a blast to have at a BBQ. (Oh can you smell the sarcasm).

[Rick Lee]

Shirley, you can't be serious.

I don't know what that stuff means in the passage you cut and pasted. Maybe it's giving Homeland Security some authority over the uniformed division of the Secret Service. I think heard some flap about John Snow (Sec. of Treasury) insisting that his own security detail belong to Treasury. So maybe there is some realignment of who controls the Secret Service. But to compare them to Schutzstaffeln? C'mon. I just watched The Odessa File last Friday. They had nothing in common with the uniformed Secret Service guys. And the Secret Service has been around since Lincoln. There's not much secret about them. The uniformed guys are pretty laid back, while the plainclothes guys tend to be humorless. Still, they don't even compare to real secret police. If you've ever had a face to face with someone from the Stasi or Hu Jing, you'd realize how far out your analogy is.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Shirley, you can't be serious.

I don't know what that stuff means in the passage you cut and pasted. Maybe it's giving Homeland Security some authority over the uniformed division of the Secret Service.

I think heard some flap about John Snow (Sec. of Treasury) insisting that his own security detail belong to Treasury. So maybe there is some realignment of who controls the Secret Service. But to compare them to Schutzstaffeln?

C'mon. I just watched The Odessa File last Friday. They had nothing in common with the uniformed Secret Service guys. And the Secret Service has been around since Lincoln. There's not much secret about them. The uniformed guys are pretty laid back, while the plainclothes guys tend to be humorless.

Still, they don't even compare to real secret police. If you've ever had a face to face with someone from the Stasi or Hu Jing, you'd realize how far out your analogy is.

Rick,

Please do not try to use facts or reason to communicate with Slopat. Pat is in "his own little world, one where everything is quiet except in his head and it gets better when the meds are brought around his padded room"...

The fact that the police and LE have been around for years does not register to him and he just continues on the roll he has been on, making no sense or converts either way.

Ahaa, the Stasi. Worked against them in Berlin for a long time. After the wall fell we got to go over and see some of their information and such. They were dedicated and did a very good job as long as they had the govt behind them, then faded into history when everything came out in the open. Their leaders were jailed and every one of the rank and file people found to be spying on their own friends and in some cases, family suffered for their actions. A once in a lifetime even to see the "guys in the white hats" win this one.

Wizard, bet that Slopat has already built the ovens and has a list of neighbors to stuff in the oven in the making. Glad that he is in the padded room to keep his thoughts from being put into action.

Joe A

[Joeaksa]

This was not ever posted by Joeaksa

Slopat you silly, silly boy!

So now you are comparing our law enforcement people to the Nazi SS? What a wonderful move that is, excellent support for the men and women who are protecting you this very minute.

Slopat, please do not try to change what I wrote above. You do not deserve to be called any title of respect after posts like this. When you raise to the level that you deserve to be called sir, then you might receive it but its a long way away.

Your posts are just making it better and better. Now you are advocating the armed revolution of the people against the police and govt!? The bottom poster sure makes it seem so. Civilians shooting at a police or military helo? Son, the FBI and Homeland Security would love to talk to you and NOW!

Guess you feel that the terrorists who are in this country should be left alone? Can we just send them to NC so that you can be taking care of them? Tea and crumpets in the afternoon, then you can all bow towards Mecca and chant your prayers to Allah?

Please take your medication, and call the shrink fast.

JoeA

[Rick Lee]

I had some dealings with the Stasi too, though I was not working against them, but rather being followed by them wherever I went in E. Germany. Anyone who has spent time in a real police state knows the difference. Most Americans have no idea whatsoever what it's like. We can tell cops off, refuse searches, ask for id and basically get away with things unimagineable in real police states. In E. Germany you could literally see the fear in people's faces. Before the protests started there in 1989, the best anyone could ever hope for was to not end up on the wrong side ofthe Stasi.

They have a great Stasi museum in Berlin now, which all Americans should see. I don't think most would be able to appreciate it unless they had experienced it when the Stasi was in power. Last time I was there, I filed the equivalent of a FOIA request for my files. I got a letter back about 6 mos. later with the badge number, but name redacted, of the agent who followed me around. The letter said my files were still in Halle or Magdeburg and I could check back in two yrs. Obviously, they had quite a workload, since every single East German and millions of westerners were spied on. I have't followed up, but will get around to it.

[Joeaksa]

Rick,

My name is there as well, used to go "over" often. My Berlin wife smuggled things to her family on the Eastern side. Funny things, like a Time magazine or something new to read. As I had military ID the police stopped us at times and we told them to fuch off, get me a Russian officer to communicate with. Got them mad as they had no right to even talk with us but them's the rules bucko.

The people on the East side had no access to Western items and her Uncle there was a printer and he wanted to see how the new processes that were being used were done, so we bought the latest stuff from the news stand on the street and brought it to him. You could see his eyes light up when he saw a new idea and then tried to incorporate it into his things at work.

The fall of the wall was a unbelieveable event. As you said, until you have lived or worked with a police state you just cannot understand. Magdeburg is where the Ruskies kept Hitlers body for many years and some say that part of it is still buried there now. Part of what screwed them is that they kept a file or record on everything. Once the wall fell the locals found reports on everyone and that really torqued people off. It will take a generation for things to become normal again, with other issues mixed in.

I still have some very interesting things from that era. A transit pass, signed by the transit police but no name filled in for the person. When ferrying a parachute airplane from the Baltic to Berlin for an airshow he made a mistake and gave me a extra pass as he was paying more attention to the new "western" airplane than he was to his job! A smuggler would have a field day with this. As well a few other things that I do not want to put on an open forum but someday if you return we need to have a bier and talk over Berlin.

Still miss a currywurst, doner kebap and Berliner Kindl!

Tchuss,

Joe A

[Rick Lee]

I still have my old passport with my Ausreise Visum. Talk about having something worth 10x its weight in gold at the time! Now you can buy postcards everywhere with old East German documents and road signs on them. There was a Stasi prison in Halle called Rote Ochse (red ox), which was being turned into a memorial last time I was there. The construction workers took pity on the fact that I was from so far away and let my elderly eastern German friend and I walk around. Some of the prison was still intact. It had that very distinct East German smell. You know what I'm talking about. It was very prevalent in the trains and Trabants.

In fact, I broke down and went to the lame Spy Museum here in DC a while ago. They had a section on the Stasi with a real Trabant there. The windows were down, so I stuck my head in the driver's side and was hit with that smell again like a ton of bricks. It's amazing what memories certain smells bring back. East Germany had a very distinct smell - a combination of fear, pollution, cheap leather, damp wood and rich history.

[Joeaksa]

Rick,

Its the dampness and fabric inside the Trabbi that brings it back to me. Not going to say much more here but you know the smell. Heard about the Red Ox but thank God never been near it. It was not a nice place back then.

Remember the drab look and feeling along the streets? Everything looked the same, every building painted the same drab brown color and nothing bright at all? Still remember going onto the side streets and you could still find bullet holes in buildings from when the Russians took the city from Hitler. Remember the subway cars with the netting on the bottom to keep people from smuggling themselves to the West... it goes on and on.

Go to the Checkpoint Charlie museum next time. Its manned by former East German border guards (or was the last time I was there) and many levels of real things used in the cold war over there.

I wish that there was a way to give "normal" people the feelings that we had with dealing with a police state like East Germany. There is just no way and I hope it stay's that way forever.

Joe

[Rick Lee]

I first went to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum when that Checkpoint was still a real border crossing. It was eerie to say the least. I was fortunate enough to live in Germany in 91-92 when rebuilding in the east really got underway. I went to visit friends there every few weeks in that period. Before the Wall came down I spent time in Dresden, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Halle, Berlin, Karl Marx Stadt (probably Rodeo's utopia) and in plenty of tiny villages in between. It was a different world back then. When you felt too sorry for the East Germans, you just had to take a look at the poor Russian soldiers you saw everywhere. They lived just a step above stray dogs and were not even in the same world as the very well-off (by comparison) East Germans. And you always knew someday the East Germans would be bailed out by their brothers in the west, while the Russkies would have to fend for themselves. A few times while traveling in the east in 90-91, you could see Russian choppers swooping down low, hunting deserters. They really lived like animals. I can only imagine how bad it is in North Korea. Anyone who wants some sense of what an Orwellian police state is like should read "Aquariums of Pyongyang". That book would seem like fantasy fiction to anyone who hasn't experieced a real police state.

Oh BTW Joe, the old border crossing by Hannover (Helmstedt-Marienborn) is a small memorial now with shot films and the old guard houses. Very cool - especially since I crossed there several times in the old days.

[sammyg2]

If you are not a bad guy, you have nothing to worry about. if you are a bad guy, I hope they catch you