Wasn't that the argument for communism by Vladimir Lenin?

 

Not making the huge leap that the Patriot Act is going the direction of a totalitarian form of government like communism but once you start going down that path, it can be difficult to turn away from it.

 

Now, I will concede, totalitarian governments tend to be very effective at preventing terrorism. When you don't have to worry about your subjects civil rights, it is easy to capture the guilty party since you really don't care about the innocent you stomped over to catch them.

 

Remember before the Winter Olympics when Russia was having bombings and how quickly they stopped? Can you imagine how many innocent people Putin's thugs ran over in that process? While it was very effective, I sure rights were tossed in the toilet in the process.

 

Me, I will take a little less security for my freedom, liberty and privacy over shackled security any day.

In the surveillance state there are always ways around things.

 

FBI aircraft used for data gathering....

 

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/fbi-behind-mysterious-surveillance-aircraft-over-us-cities-070836765--politics.html

 

Encryption technologies under scrutiny.

 

WASHINGTON: US officials warn of encrypted communications by extremists | Business | Kentucky.com

Lets face it. Rand Paul is not going to be on the top ticket next year.

 

His views include - limited government (neither party likes that), stronger oversight of the Federal Reserve (the bankers and leaders of the parties do not like that), less military intervention where US interest are not at issue (the military complex does not like that), more reasonable approach to the 'war on drugs' (law and order backers do not like that) and of course he now has the ire of the 'intelligence community' (is that not an oxymoron).

 

So Rand lacks the backing of the usual power brokers. He is an odd-duck like his father in the political circles. But he has some interesting views.

 

What's the saying - 'if everyone is mad at you you must be doing something right'.

 

What Rand does better than his father Ron ever did was communicate and come off reasonable. Ron and Rand have almost identical platforms but Rand is better communicator.

 

The media, GOP and Dem leader paint him as the fringe and he ticks down and then he talks and take positions and shoots back up.

 

I've been waiting for awhile to make this comparison. But there is a former GOP president who was painted as on the fringe and was said to have crazy ideas . Now he is deemed as if not the greatest president of the last 100 years , he is one of them.

 

Rand is pushing the party dynamic like Reagan did. Even if the party leaders stop him this go around , they aren't ending Rand. The youth of the party back him by a large margin.

I'm not sure exactly what freedom I am giving up by the NSA, FBI, CIA or anyone else knowing what phone numbers I have called or received calls from...after all the phone company knows who I call and how long and how often.

 

I think it was PurplePride92 that said once, that he just assumed they were already collecting that stuff and knew who we were calling...I was kinda the same way, I always figured that info was readily available as needed anyway.

 

I see both sides of this argument and I am with Rand Paul on this one. At the same time, as you pointed out, Patriot Act or not I guarantee SOMEBODY in the government will still be monitoring all of us whether we know it or not.

 

They'll tell us they shut down but come on man, they ain't laying off or reassigning all the folks who have been conducting surveillance. :lol2:

What Rand does better than his father Ron ever did was communicate and come off reasonable. Ron and Rand have almost identical platforms but Rand is better communicator.

 

The media, GOP and Dem leader paint him as the fringe and he ticks down and then he talks and take positions and shoots back up.

 

I've been waiting for awhile to make this comparison. But there is a former GOP president who was painted as on the fringe and was said to have crazy ideas . Now he is deemed as if not the greatest president of the last 100 years , he is one of them.

 

Rand is pushing the party dynamic like Reagan did. Even if the party leaders stop him this go around , they aren't ending Rand. The youth of the party back him by a large margin.

 

Agreed. Maybe just maybe he could be so far out there that the party line is blurred and he convinces enough people to vote for him. I really like a lot of things he has had to say so far. I'd like to see him in the debates.

The only thing that the patriot act has done is take away our freedom.

In case you missed it, 3 of BGP's Looney Liberal club are standing WITH Sen. Paul on this one.

 

 

4 Looney Liberals, that is.

Not if it's Rand Paul mano y womano v. Hillary.

 

Can't believe I couldn't get a like out of this one. Might prove to be my wittiest post of the month. Mano y womano. Now that's just good stuff.

Can't believe I couldn't get a like out of this one. Might prove to be my wittiest post of the month. Mano y womano. Now that's just good stuff.

 

It's unbecoming to grovel.

It's unbecoming to grovel.

 

I'm not usually one for shameless self-promotion, but I was pretty proud of myself there.

I'm not usually one for shameless self-promotion, but I was pretty proud of myself there.

 

Just for meanness, I'll like this one but not the other.

Just for meanness, I'll like this one but not the other.

 

:lol: