Nov 24 2010

Teachable Moment: Probable Cause vs Possible Harm

Published by at 10:30 am under All General Discussions

Leave it to the Obama White House to be completely clueless about the law regarding invasive searches (since they don’t have a clue on just about everything they face). Andy McCarthy sums it up best:

But what makes the search appropriate is the record of the people involved, not the abstract possibility of violence. A savage act is always possible. If that is all it took to justify gross infringements of liberty, such infringements would always and everywhere be justified. An intrusive search is reasonable, or not, based on what the people involved have done to prompt it, not simply because life is fraught with peril.

That is because probable cause is not the same as possible harm. In fact ‘possible‘ is not the same as ‘probable‘ – something the left forgets. When Bush made his famous changes to FISA to let the NSA pass on terrorist leads to the FBI, there had to be a probable cause trigger. In those cases, anyone in the US in contact with a known and monitored terrorist (detected by the NSA as they monitored the terrorists) would trigger an FBI investigation to see if there was probable cause for extending the surveillance to the person in the US. In no case was anyone targeted because they simply might be a terrorist. People had to be in contact with known terrorists – a definition the Obama administration foolishly limited with deadly results.

This is how Major Nidal (Ft Hood Massacre) ended up being the subject of TWO counter terrorism investigations, beginning under Bush and continuing as Obama took over the reigns of government. I was able to piece together a time line indicating how AG Holder and Obama likely suspended the investigation and monitoring of Major Nidal in the summer of 2009, as part of their dimwitted policy to dial back the war on terror from the Bush era. See, Nidal had been in contact with the American traitor Anwar al-Awlaki who fights for al Qaeda in Yemen. Under the Bush rules, once Nidal contacted al-Awlaki he triggered the probable cause alarm. His actions gave the national security apparatus the right to investigate and infringe on 4th amendment rights. Obama and Holder saw Nidal and Awlaki as US citizens, and Yemen not part of the war on al Qaeda.

A position they clearly learned was wrong, now that Obama has put an assassination order out on al-Awlaki. Talk about a pendulum swing. First he has protected speech, then he can be killed without a trial or verdict.

This is clearly not what TSA and DHS is doing now. They have stolen our constitutional rights on the basis of a possible attack. All those people getting molested in public are being wrongfully infringed upon, since there is NO probable cause they are a threat. We are all guilty until patted down, felt up and deemed innocent.

Massive violations of the US Constitution is a high crime – and needs to be seen as such. We cannot let panicked bureaucrats steel our constitution to cover up their mistakes. There needs to a high price for this kind of law breaking. We are off the slippery slope and now falling into the hole of dictatorship.

MAJOR UPDATE: Anyone who thinks the Constitution is something that can be polled and waved by some sort of voice vote really has to go back to US Government class in High School.

Despite a reported uproar about full-body screening procedures now in broader use at U.S. airports and calls for a boycott, Gallup finds that relatively few frequent U.S. air travelers are angry about the new procedures or inclined to cut back on flying as a result.

Public opinion is irrelevant in this matter. The public can be of the view that it is not right to home school, teach abstinence or not allow a 9 year old watch Jurassic Park. My rights and my decisions are not up for national polling. This is the straw that is breaking the backs of We The People. I don’t care if 95% of the people wave their rights – I do not! And you can only confiscate my constitutional rights from my cold dead hands – at which point America will have died anyway.

7 responses so far

7 Responses to “Teachable Moment: Probable Cause vs Possible Harm”

  1. WWS says:

    Of course to this administration the Constitution is nothing more than a few sheets of tissue paper that they can wipe their asses with. It’s only useful to them if it can be utilized to beat their enemies over the head with, otherwise they don’t want to hear about it.

    And thus all the whining about “Rights” by the left during the Bush years is shown to be nothing but a path to power for those who deep down believe in nothing but themselves.

  2. dbostan says:

    I fully agree.
    Very good article for a very worthy cause.
    I think a lawsuit is in store for the TSA regarding this.
    As a matter of fact, I would support the complete removal of the TSA from the gov. payroll. De-fund and disband…

  3. […] Patterson – hotair.com 11/24/2010 Special holiday time of 1 pm ET! more… Teachable Moment: Probable Cause vs Possible Harm – strata-sphere.com 11/24/2010 Leave it to the Obama White House to be completely clueless […]

  4. pgahtan says:

    don’t forget the arkansas shooting at the military recruitment office.yemen again. two dead.

  5. joe six-pack says:

    “He who defends everything, defends nothing.”

    The U.S. is on the strategic defensive. Defensive warfare stinks!
    All we are doing is waiting until the next attack. It can only be a matter of time.

  6. stevevvs says:

    It’s nice to see Folks concerned about their liberty, finally. I wish they had this concern 9-10 years ago when so much of their liberty was being lost. But better late than never. TSA, The Department of Homeland Security and The Patriot Act have all been direct assaults on our constitutional rights. It took me a few years to learn this, but more and more people are coming to this realization. And I’m glad to see it.

    Had a Republican House, Senate, and White House not done these direct assults on the constitution, Obama couldn’t either. That seems to be the blind spot with most that I find today.

    The Patriot Act was passed with no House debate, and little senate debate. It was 315 pages, and House members had 30 minute to look it over. Sounds like what passes for “review” of so many Obama legislation, doesn’t it?

    People need to look beyond the two Jerseys, both Parties have the interests of the Party, not the people.

    Time to get ready for the family gathering. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!

  7. stevevvs says:

    Andrew Napolitano, the Fox News Senior Legal Analyst, and host of Freedom Watch, has had several good speeches and articles.

    Here is a link to a speech on Civil Liberties in wartime:

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/napolitano3.html

    Four, 9 minute segments.

    And this is a link to his article archive:

    http://www.lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano-arch.html

    The ones at the bottom of the list are excellent.

    See Ya!