Patriot Day should not pass without at least some acknowledgement of the events of September 11, 2001 and the innocent lives lost that day. But a crucial aspect of America was also a victim: the liberties our Constitution guarantees. 

Since that time, the U.S.A. Patriot Act gave the Deep State tools of dubious constitutionality and a free hand to use them against terrorists. Too few stood up against the Act. Too few heeded warnings about the Act. Too few voted against it's renewal past it's December 2005 sunset date. Now, today, we are paying the price because the same shadowy actors who are empowered by the Act shroud themselves and their actions (and inactions) behind the rubric of "national security."   

We'll never know how much real terrorism the Act prevented because the agencies devoted to preventing terrorism hold a monopoly on information about their activities. But we can infer from what we can plainly see and hear that the Deep State has changed the definition of "terrorists" and "terrorism" to include the large plurality of American citizens who hold fast to our Constitutional law and rights and reject government's radical shift to the extreme left.


On this day–September 11, 2023—we should mourn the dead but never  resign ourselves to the unwelcome changes to our lives since 2001. The ironically named "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001" turned out to be a Trojan Horse that put awesome weapons at the disposal of people who hate America. They have decided that patriotic Americans are "terrorists" and are using those weapons against America now more than ever.

Now more than ever our greatest imperative should be to neutralize the Deep State and the first and best way to get started is to abolish the USA Patriot Act, which has done more damage to America than any of the weaponized airliners of September 11, 2001. 

Reference to show you what's in the Act:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/USA-PATRIOT-Act

Related:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/0 ... al-health/ 

Marginally related:

The first President in 22 years who couldn't be arsed to appear at any 9-11 remembrance ceremonies (not that anyone wanted him to):


https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/0 ... joe-biden/

Very related:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/0 ... t-couldnt/

Curious happenstance:

It's funny now, but when they introduced the PATRIOT act, I remember reading and hearing the concerns about how it could be used by the gubment to spy on us all and at the time I was like, nah that would never happen. They *need* it to keep us safe from these wacky islamic terrorists. In America, we'd never use it against political enemies - that's crazy talk!

Yeah... with age comes wisdom sometimes.  I agree to abolish it (or actually, just don't renew it, right?).

Panem Et Circenses wrote: ↑

9/21/2023, 8:59 am

Yeah... with age comes wisdom sometimes.  I agree to abolish it (or actually, just don't renew it, right?).

Most Equally Esteemed Komrades,

I was working for the FAA when 9/11 occurred.  Those of us in security knew that it was not a failure of any current regulation or the enforcement there of which led to the carnage.  Rather it was the decision by the Administrator to arbitrarily allow small knives on board commercial aircraft.  He liked to travel with a small pocket knife.  In fact, on 9/10, if one of the major airlines had run a promotion involving distribution of box cutters to every passenger and holding box cutter parades up and down the aisle of every airliner flying no one at FAA Security would have even said a word.  To be clear, 9/11 was a policy failure attributable to one man.  And he has NEVER been held accountable. 

As soon as we heard the news, everyone in FAA Security knew we would be blamed for 9/11.  And we were.  TSA (Taking Scissors Souls Away) was created out of thin air and we figured it was where we would work if we kept our jobs.  We were correct. 

Early on, even before the creation of DHS, Admiral Loy (the first TSA Administrator), had a telecon with all of us newly minted TSA Inspectors.  First he blamed us for 9/11.  That set the mood.  Then later on in his seemingly endless remarks, he said, "I want TSA to become the STASSI for America."  Things went downhill from there.  The USA Patriot Act sanctioned abuses were many and I am fairly certain I cannot speak of any of them in detail.  Let's just say the notorious No Fly List is not even close to what it is purported to be.  The No Fly List was one of the least objectionable programs in which I participated. 

In my defense, and it is a piss poor one, I was close to retirement and I was concerned about the alleged Golden Handcuffs.  There were a lot of us in that boat.  The newer DHS operatives are True Believers.  I'm sure they are far more dangerous than we old timers ever were.

I would make the joke about a knock at the door, but it is not funny. 

Looking over my shoulder in the Current Truth™,

Red Salmon

PS.  Repeal the USA Patriot Act.  It cannot be "reformed". 

Red Salmon wrote: ↑

9/22/2023, 12:30 pm

I was working for the FAA when 9/11 occurred...
...
...Looking over my shoulder in the Current Truth™

Since we're taking a walk down Memory Lane....

September 11, 2001 was a big, BIG day in the news but it didn't start out that way. Here's an ever-overlooked item from the early morning and it's so ironic that it's incredible that it was memory-holed.

I was on my way to work, listening to NPR's morning edition on a Sony Walkman FM radio. NPR played its lively-yet-subdued pre- top of the hour music as an announcer read off a few of the day's forthcoming events. This one drew my attention:

     "...and today Secretary of Defense Robert Gates attends a briefing on international terrorism, but first The News..." 

And I thought, 'It's about f**king time' (the post-Reagan U.S. responses to terrorism seemed lackadaisical at best). I was looking forward to more on the item later in the day but there was no more: the attacks in NYC, DC and Shanksville absolutely dominated coverage on almost every station then and for days afterward.

One other thing: footage of Moslems around the world dancing and singing appeared, including Moslems in New Jersey (which was rapidly memory holed and its very existence denied and disputed). It was troubling but no less troubling than the Stockholm Syndrome patients ultra-liberal agitprops popping up within hours to blame the U.S. for provoking the attacks....pretty much the same America-haters who also quickly shouted conspiracy theories about the CIA engineering the whole catastrophe.

I've never given credence to any of the "Truther" conspiracies but I'm still curious about all air traffic being shut down——except for a number of flights to Saudi Arabia. 
 
 

Colonel Obyezyana, a very similar news blurb experience happened with the mythical horned lagomorph. The blurb indicated Ira Magaziner had perjured himself, and the smartest womyn in the world in testimony about a secret Health Care Taskforce. That evening anticipating cable news coverage, ‘pelipsky realized The O.J. Simpson Murder Show pilot tv show had gone into Season One production.
The walnut shell pea of news coverage shifted coasts, like a carnival sideshow. Arkancide took care of alligators of perjury, and OJ’s still looking for the murderer.