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  • From: Ian Meyer <ianmeyer AT mac.com>
  • To: Internetworkers <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [internetworkers] Fwd: Ashcroft
  • Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 14:20:47 -0400

I rec'd thos today, I can't make it, but if anyone else wants to, heres the info (assuming you didn't get it also).

Ian

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Noah T. Winer, MoveOn.org" <moveon-help AT list.moveon.org>
Date: September 5, 2003 12:33:01 PM EDT
To: Ian Meyer <ianmeyer AT mac.com>
Subject: Opportunity for Raleigh-Durham area MoveOn members

Dear MoveOn member,

This Saturday, Attorney General John Ashcroft will be speaking in
Durham in defense of the controversial Patriot Act. The North Carolina
ACLU and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee have organized a
demonstration to show the broad public opposition to this threat to
our freedoms. They are asking all supportive people to attend with
signs.

WHAT: Demonstration to demand the protection of our civil liberties
and counter Ashcroft's Patriot Act tour

WHEN: Saturday, September 6 at 10:00 AM

WHERE: Sheraton Imperial Hotel Convention Center, Blvd 4700 Emperor
Blvd. (I-40 exit 282 Page Road)
Map: http://www.moveon.org/r?466

WHO: ACLU of North Carolina (http://acluofnorthcarolina.org/)
Contact: Jennifer Coleman at (919) 834-3466;
Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committee (http://www.bordc.org/),
Contact: Jim Senter at (919) 220-5169;
Orange County Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Contact: Margaret Misch at (919) 942-2535 or mmisch AT earthlink.net

Please let us know you can attend:

http://www.moveon.org/ashcroft/raleigh-durham.html?id=1636-3020810-GBNBkOlc0nh2Sy4B6gmT.A

Ashcroft is currently touring the nation, with a focus on states
contested in the presidential election, as part of a public relations
campaign to shore up the Patriot Act. The tour comes as increasing
numbers of Americans are challenging the Administration's assault on
basic freedoms and as Congress considers numerous bipartisan measures
to prohibit implementation of aspects of the Patriot Act.

The Attorney General also seeks to build support for passage of the
expansive sequel, dubbed Patriot II, and the VICTORY Act. His speeches
will be given before audiences of law enforcement officials and are
closed to the public. Even the schedule of the tour is being kept a
secret until the last minute. All of this seems designed to prevent
Americans from showing their opposition to attacks on civil liberties.

Don't let the Justice Department's secrecy prevent the free expression
of opposition to the Patriot Act. Sign up now to attend the press
conference countering Ashcroft's claims:

http://www.moveon.org/ashcroft/raleigh-durham.html?id=1636-3020810-GBNBkOlc0nh2Sy4B6gmT.A

If you're unable to attend, pass this information on to your friends
and neighbors in the area. Thanks for insisting that security is
attainable without sacrificing our freedom.

Sincerely,
--Noah T. Winer
MoveOn.org
September 5, 2003

P.S. Here's an excellent editorial that appeared in the New York Times
last week:

Op-Ed: An Unpatriotic Act
by Bill Blaas, The New York Times, Monday August 25, 2003

Attorney General John Ashcroft has embarked on a charm offensive on
behalf of the USA Patriot Act. He is traveling the country to rally
support for the law, which many people, both liberals and
conservatives, consider a dangerous assault on civil liberties. Mr.
Ashcroft's efforts to promote the law are misguided. He should abandon
the roadshow and spend more time in Washington working with those who
want to reform the law.

When the Patriot Act raced through Congress after Sept. 11, critics
warned that it was an unprecedented expansion of the government's
right to spy on ordinary Americans. The more people have learned about
the law, the greater the calls have been for overhauling it. One
section that has produced particular outrage is the authorization of
"sneak and peek" searches, in which the government secretly searches
people's homes and delays telling them about the search. The House
last month voted 309 to 118 for a Republican-sponsored measure to
block the use of federal funds for such searches.

Congressional opponents of the act, on both sides of the aisle, are
pushing for other changes. A Senate bill, sponsored by Lisa Murkowski,
an Alaska Republican, and Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, addresses
many of the law's most troubling aspects. One provision would make it
harder for the government to gain access to sensitive data, including
medical and library records, and records concerning the purchase or
rental of books, music or videos.

Another change would narrow the definition of "terrorism," so the
law's expanded enforcement tools could not be used against domestic
political protesters, such as environmentalists and anti-abortion
activists, with no link to international terrorism. The bill would
also require the government to be more specific about the targets of
wiretaps obtained under the law, and would restrict the kind of
information that could be collected on Internet and e-mail use.

One member of Congress, Representative John Conyers Jr., a Michigan
Democrat, has charged that Mr. Ashcroft's lobbying campaign, in which
United States attorneys have been asked to participate, may violate
the law prohibiting members of the executive branch from engaging in
grass-roots lobbying for or against Congressional legislation. Legal
or not, the campaign seeks to shore up a deeply flawed piece of
legislation. The Patriot Act is the Bush administration's attempt to
make the country safe on the cheap. Rather than do the hard work of
coming up with effective port security and air cargo checks, and other
programs targeted at actual threats, the administration has taken aim
at civil liberties.

The administration is clearly worried, as opposition to the excesses
of the Patriot Act grows across the country and the political
spectrum. Instead of spin-doctoring the problem, Mr. Ashcroft should
work with the law's critics to develop a law that respects Americans'
fundamental rights.

Copyright 2003, The New York Times Company.

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  • [internetworkers] Fwd: Ashcroft, Ian Meyer, 09/05/2003

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