Quote:
Originally posted by bilmore
I think this is a red herring. (I've never actually seen a red herring, and it doesn't sound very appealing at all.) Back when they were passing the PA, the point was made, repeatedly, that this was an extension of existing tools to the purpose of anti-terrorism. The great conservative Joe Biden put it this way (I found one quick quote here) - “the FBI could get a wiretap to investigate the mafia, but they could not get one to investigate terrorists. To put it bluntly, that was crazy! What’s good for the mob should be good for terrorists.” (Cong. Rec., 10/25/01).
In other words, what NPR was complaining about was the use of methods and tools that were already there pre-PA - the only difference was, one could now claim "terrorism" and get the warrants.
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I'm generally in agreement with you on this, and have not witnessed any erosion whatsoever. However, there are some that are beginning to use the PA for non-terrorist type investigations. I can't remember the specific facts, but I think the fed in vegas was going after strip clubs/politicians/scanal under the PA with not even an alleged terrorist connection.
