Statement may allow gov't to open mail

[Administrator]

A signing statement attached to postal legislation by President Bush last month may have opened the way for the government to open mail without a warrant. The White House denies any change in policy.

The law requires government agents to get warrants to open first-class letters. But when he signed the postal reform act, Bush added a statement saying that his administration would construe that provision "in a manner consistent, to the maximum extent permissible, with the need to conduct searches in exigent circumstances."

"The signing statement raises serious questions whether he is authorizing opening of mail contrary to the Constitution and to laws enacted by Congress," said Ann Beeson, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "What is the purpose of the signing statement if it isn't that?"

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070105/ap_on_go_pr_wh/opening_the_mail

[stagger]

I still can't believe no one has took a shot at this guy yet.

[BlueCat]

That's a bonehead statement.

[BlueCat]

They can open my mail anytime the want. They can pay the bills too.

[ForeverBigBlue]

This is walking on a very slippery slope IMO. One by one, it seems our rights are being taken away and, while on the surface it may seem harmless, the cumulative effect will be NO privacy for any citizen, any time, any where. As a law-abiding citizen, I thought I had constitutional rights. Where does Bush get off by taking them away?

[stagger]

Bush has an approval rating in the low 30's and a lot of people strongly despise him. I'm not advocating an attempt on his life, just saying that I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet when you mix the hostile political times we live in with the number of visitors we have from countries that absolutely hate Bush and the number of nut jobs here in the country.

First they can get your library records and other info thanks to the "Patriot" Act, you know they scan e-mail and track net usage, old ladies with walkers get extra security screening and get hassled because their toiletry items aren't in the proper size zip lock bags in airports (I've been a witness to that as I'm sure you have too) and now they can open our mail. What's next?

[BlueCat]

Well I've been through the airport and questioned and searched and had my bags pulled and gone through in front of the whole world to see, and my reply was "Thank You"!

That's how I feel about it. I have no fear that our government is spying on my private conversations for the sheer joy of knowing what I say in my letters, or emails. We live in a time of terror, and the threat of terror. It is my opinion that we need to take measures to prevent the harm of our children and love ones.

For that matter I live my life such that it being an open book isn't going to be embarrassing to me anyway. If I want I can pay $39 and find out just about anything I want about anyone. Why don't I? It would be very boring.

I think that we sometimes get too hung up on our "privacy". Sometimes our safety is the greater concern. We have far greater restrictions now than we've ever had with how much personal information may be disseminated. Some on the political left want to make a big deal out of a very small thing that may or may NOT be anyway, and they do so for political gain only.

For me I'd rather live a life that is an open book and walk naked in a parade than to compromise the safety of those I love.

[stagger]

I’m all for security, but reading my mail and giving extra screenings to 90 year old ladies in airports won’t get the job done! IF, I repeat, IF security it the true focus of this administration, then why won’t they try to stop the constant flow of illegal immigrants into the country by getting tough on the Mexican border and turn away those who float up on the Florida beaches on a homemade raft? Want to keep our young safe, then quit giving hall passes to government officials who get drunk and send sexually suggestive e-mails to their interns/pages (maybe create term limits to break up the good ol boy network). Maybe provide ample time for bills to be fully read before a vote can happen….it’s not unusual for a “revised” bill that looks like a big thick book to be dispersed only a few short hours before the vote happens. No one has time to read the revision and ensure that pork barrel politics hasn't seeped in to pose a security risk.

Putting U.S. citizens on lockdown isn’t the answer. We all know our government imposes these airline restrictions on the little guys like us, but do they fly commercial? No. They charter private jets to take them wherever they need to go (even for their assistants) and I have a sneaky feeling that they don’t have to go through the security line like the rest of us. Apparently, they’re above the laws they pass.

[BlueCat]

Security lockdowns are not just in the US. I've been searched more in international airports abroad than I have in the US. Security is a big thing everywhere.

Yes singling out little old ladies etc. is wrong. That's more a matter of agents not doing their jobs than what the law was intended to do. There is not law that has been passed with the intent to read my mail. Will it happen? It's possible, but I doubt very much.

[seymour]

foreverbigblue said:

This is walking on a very slippery slope IMO. One by one, it seems our rights are being taken away and, while on the surface it may seem harmless, the cumulative effect will be NO privacy for any citizen, any time, any where. As a law-abiding citizen, I thought I had constitutional rights. Where does Bush get off by taking them away?

I have heard this comment for 50 plus years and I have not noticed any loss of freedom. My place of employment opened my mail for years, it did not hurt. 9/11 meant more to me than someone reading my mail. They can have a copy if they want it. Even a copy of my 1040 is available if someone in Goverment wants a copy of it as well.

[ForeverBigBlue]

seymour said:

foreverbigblue said:

This is walking on a very slippery slope IMO. One by one, it seems our rights are being taken away and, while on the surface it may seem harmless, the cumulative effect will be NO privacy for any citizen, any time, any where. As a law-abiding citizen, I thought I had constitutional rights. Where does Bush get off by taking them away?

I have heard this comment for 50 plus years and I have not noticed any loss of freedom. My place of employment opened my mail for years, it did not hurt. 9/11 meant more to me than someone reading my mail. They can have a copy if they want it. Even a copy of my 1040 is available if someone in Goverment wants a copy of it as well.

Your place of employment opened your mail....I assume it was mail intended for you AT work? Or are you saying someone opened all your mail delivered to your home?

My problem with this is they (the administration) WANTS you to buy into their line that this is to stop terror. They WANT you to be so afraid for your "security" that you won't question them deciding to open individual's mail. I have nothing to hide with the mail I receive, but who can give me the guarantee that a future administration won't decide one day that, say, people who get more than 8 birthday cards should be considered terrorist suspects?

You think we haven't lost any freedoms in the last 50 years? I don't know that I can agree with that. You start taking little things that people don't consider a "big deal" and the next thing you know, bigger things are taken from us. And I MIGHT be able to go along with all this stuff if anyone could show me definitive proof that this has reduced terrorism one iota.

[MyBlueHeaven]

bluecat2 said:

Well I've been through the airport and questioned and searched and had my bags pulled and gone through in front of the whole world to see, and my reply was "Thank You"!

That's how I feel about it. I have no fear that our government is spying on my private conversations for the sheer joy of knowing what I say in my letters, or emails. We live in a time of terror, and the threat of terror. It is my opinion that we need to take measures to prevent the harm of our children and love ones.

For that matter I live my life such that it being an open book isn't going to be embarrassing to me anyway. If I want I can pay $39 and find out just about anything I want about anyone. Why don't I? It would be very boring.

I think that we sometimes get too hung up on our "privacy". Sometimes our safety is the greater concern. We have far greater restrictions now than we've ever had with how much personal information may be disseminated. Some on the political left want to make a big deal out of a very small thing that may or may NOT be anyway, and they do so for political gain only.

For me I'd rather live a life that is an open book and walk naked in a parade than to compromise the safety of those I love.

Amen, brother!

As to the comments about losing one's freedoms, you can kiss more than that goodbye if Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, or Hillary Clinton have their way. Be afraid, be very afraid.