BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments

Subject: RE: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 04:02 PM

Is Amos impressed by this reactionary article that he cut and pasted?

Subject: RE: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 03:55 PM

Why should it be assumed that internal flights and ferries and such are any safer than ones that cross international borders? After all, Timothy McVeigh didn't need to cross any frontiers. And all the planes of 9/11 were domestic flights.

Subject: RE: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 03:32 PM

John P, can you give an example?

Subject: RE: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: John P
Date: 20 Apr 10 - 03:19 PM

They've been stopping people at ferry terminals in Washington on ferries that don't cross international borders. In other words, American citizens who are not crossing the border are being searched without probably cause. The rumor, which I haven't confirmed, is that this goes beyond some undefined national security reason and includes picking up people for drugs or for being an illegal immigrant, which aren't national security related. But the important part is the stopping of people at all.

Subject: RE: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: artbrooks
Date: 19 Apr 10 - 09:58 PM

There is a free-travel zone that extends across the southwest US that generally goes as far north as I-10. Mexican nationals may travel in that area without having regular visas - I think that this is part of the La Paz Agreement. There is a similar free-travel area for US citizens south of the border. Checkpoints that are the equivalent of border crossing checkpoints are set up north of this area. I go through the one on I-25, about 30 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico, all the time...it generally involves slowing almost to a stop and waving a driver's license or other form of ID at the BP agent. I can see someone with non-US credentials having to do some more explaining - my Panamanian niece always carries her passport and entry visa when traveling that way. Ferry terminals in Washington? Well, sure - that's how many people enter from Canada. I'd like to see some information indicating that the BP is running these checkpoints on East-West highways or anywhere at all besides the southern border.

Subject: BS: _Actual_ Government Encroachments
From: Amos
Date: 19 Apr 10 - 09:19 PM

While Teabaggers and nutballs whine about the government of the nation--mostly in pursuit of its legitimate goals and authorities--doing terrible things like providing healthcare, prosecuting terrorism, trying to improve international relations, and other awful things, they are completely missing th eboat on some of the REAL fallout of the Great Security Whiplash started under G. W. Bush in the aftermath of 9-11.

Some examples of interest:

Only one-third of one percent (0.33 percent) of classification decisions in 2009 were made by officials who are trained to do so Ñ people known as "original classification authorities," who are specifically designated by the president or agency heads and trained to judge what information absolutely must be safeguarded to protect national security.
The rest of last year's 54 million classification decisions (99.66 percent) were what is known as "derivative classification." This happens when, for example, a CIA analyst writes a report that includes information from another document that is already marked secret, or just references a secret program or operation. The new report will be marked secret Ñ sometimes the whole thing Ñ even though the vast majority of the information in it is not based on secret sources.
Derivative classification can be performed by anyone with a security clearance Ñ that's at least 3 million people, from entry-level soldiers to contractors in private industry to high-ranking government officials.
The result, not surprisingly, is a vast sea of confused overclassification and disarray that gums up the flow of information within the government and blocks a lot of information the American people should have access to. As the Moynihan Commission (one of the most prominent and thorough studies of the secrecy problem) found in 1997, "many of the individuals who classify derivatively remain unfamiliar with the proper procedures." Sure enough, the new ISOO report finds an enormously high error rate (65 percent) in the supposedly secret documents it examined.


Elsewhere, the nation now has what the ACLU calls a "Constitution-free zone" extending one hundred miles in from the exterior borders of the country, inside of which a large number of Americans live (up to two thirds by some estimates). Within that zone, various liberties are taken that encroach upon the rights of citizens.

"American citizens traveling from one place in America to another, are being stopped and harassed in ways that our Constitution does not permit.

Border Patrol has been setting up checkpoints inland Ñ on highways in states such as California, Texas and Arizona, and at ferry terminals in Washington State. Typically, the agents ask drivers and passengers about their citizenship. Unfortunately, our courts so far have permitted these kinds of checkpoints Ð legally speaking, they are ÒadministrativeÓ stops that are permitted only for the specific purpose of protecting the nationÕs borders. They cannot become general drug-search or other law enforcement efforts.
However, these stops by Border Patrol agents are not remaining confined to that border security purpose. On the roads of California and elsewhere in the nation Ð places far removed from the actual border Ð agents are stopping, interrogating, and searching Americans on an everyday basis with absolutely no suspicion of wrongdoing.

The bottom line is that the extraordinary authorities that the government possesses at the border are spilling into regular American streets.

Much of U.S. population affected

Many Americans and Washington policymakers believe that this is a problem confined to the San Diego-Tijuana border or the dusty sands of Arizona or Texas, but these powers stretch far inland across the United States.

To calculate what proportion of the U.S. population is affected by these powers, the ACLU created a map and spreadsheet showing the population and population centers that lie within 100 miles of any Òexternal boundaryÓ of the United States.

The population estimates were calculated by examining the most recent US census numbers for all counties within 100 miles of these borders. Using numbers from the Population Distribution Branch of the US Census Bureau, we were able to estimate both the total number and a state-by-state population breakdown. The custom map was created with help from a map expert at World Sites Atlas.

What we found is that fully TWO-THIRDS of the United StatesÕ population lives within this Constitution-free or Constitution-lite Zone.   ThatÕs 197.4 million people who live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders.

Nine of the top 10 largest metropolitan areas as determined by the 2000 census, fall within the Constitution-free Zone. (The only exception is #9, Dallas-Fort Worth.) Some states are considered to lie completely within the zone: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont."

Some stories of violations can be found here.

Another front on which similar abrogations are occurring is the Kafkaesque distortions of the DHS watchlist system. The Tea Party has made o objection to any of these.