The Patriot Act Turns 25 And We've Never "Been Safer"

0:00 Call me crazy, but it feels like they kind of had all of this in place before 9/11. And every bit of our government lockstep y'all this is what we're doing push it through. So today is the 25th anniversary of the day that President Bush signed into law the Patriot Act. If you don't know what the Patriot Act is, well, on 9/11 I did a whole thing about it. But we can learn a little bit more today

0:45 because man, I'm telling you the Patriot Act opened up the doorway for the surveillance state that we live in right now. So yeah, the Patriot Act it was signed into law about 45 days 46 days after 9/11. And you just don't see the government being so bipartisan and working things through so quickly. You never do. You never do. The only times that you do is when they're surely stripping us of something. And the Patriot Act is certainly one of the big milestones one of the big stepping stones to the surveillance state that we find ourselves in today. 9/11 President George W. Bush

1:30 administration acted swiftly to expand government surveillance powers, but the measure was almost instantly controversial. The terrorist organization Al-Qaeda coordinated four attacks on major US landmarks. In total 2,996 people were killed on 9/11. It was the most fatal attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. In response, President George W. Bush and his administration proposed a new law called the USA Patriot Act or the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. The Patriot Act received overwhelming bipartisan support from Congress.

2:17 In the Senate, the bill was passed almost unanimously. In the House, it was passed On October 25th, 2001, the USA Patriot Act was signed into law without any amendments. For a bill that passed so quickly, it was very long and very dense. Few lawmakers read it in full before they voted for it. The law was also full of controversy and quickly became the subject of a lot of criticism and debate. Many went so far as to call it unconstitutional. The Patriot Act included all kinds of new rules and amendments, particularly ones about surveillance and national security. It included amendments to the Wiretap Act. This let police obtain court orders

3:02 to spy and eavesdrop on suspected cybercriminals and terrorists by intercepting their phone calls, emails, and any other form of communication. It added credit card and bank account numbers to a government-controlled database that could be accessed with court permission. It also allowed government officials to use trap and trace devices and conduct sneak and peek searches. Trap and trace devices can trace phone calls to individuals and addresses. This was all before social media. This was all before we put all of our lives on the internet. Where we all kind of just willingly gave up a little bit of privacy so that we could have a streamlined experience on the internet.

3:48 Isn't that interesting? Isn't that interesting? Sneak and peek searches are searches where We used to have it so good. We really used to have it so good. People supporting the Patriot Act argued that it increased the chances of catching terrorists by granting more government access and promoting cooperation between the CIA and the FBI through information sharing. The argument was often made that those without terrorist ties would have nothing to hide from these agencies. Since its conception, at least 50 terrorist acts have been thwarted. But it's hard to know if that's directly related to the Patriot Act. In actuality, the Patriot Act has done more to catch drug dealers than terrorists. Americans feel mixed about that. Reducing crime across the board is considered a good thing, a priority that crosses party lines.

4:33 But many Americans are skeptical of the government using laws outside of their original intent. Americans have also criticized the act for being unconstitutional. In particular, they took issue with section 215 for violating the Fourth Amendment, the protection against unlawful searches and seizures, by permitting warrantless searches. People also questioned section 505, which allowed the government to impose gag orders, as well as investigate people based on their speech. Many saw this as a direct violation of our First Amendment rights. Others went on to criticize the act's implicit promotion of racial profiling. The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, along with several US senators, took legal action against the Patriot Act. In 2004, judges struck some key

5:19 Shout out to the ACLU. unconstitutional. Over the years, some parts of the Patriot Act have expired or been struck down, while others have been renewed. Since its inception, the Patriot Act has garnered strong reactions. Supporters argue it has allowed government agencies to cooperate, made it easier to catch criminals, and prevent future terrorist attacks. Those against it see surveillance as dangerous and in violation of free speech, infringing on the Bill of Rights with unclear results when it comes to protecting people from terrorism. So, the age-old question remains, can giving up constitutional rights help keep us safe? Or does it take away liberties without giving us added protection? Well, that was actually pretty good video. Good little round up. Yeah, Patriot Act wasn't a necessarily a

6:05 great thing for us. Not for those of us who care about sovereignty. So, yeah, September 11th happened 45 days later on on October 26th, they passed the Patriot Act. Ashcroft delivered the Justice Department's draft the week of September 19th, 2001. So, eight days later, eight days after 9/11, Ashcroft had the Patriot Act ready, submitted it. Okay? He demanded passage within a week. Many provisions were recycled from DOJ and FBI wish lists, which we know about this, uh Congress had rejected before 9/11. The I mean, and come on, it's

6:50 everything that we wanted before 9/11. Then 9/11 happened, and now, well, maybe maybe uh maybe it's time to revisit that. Pushed it in on the 19th, pushed for it to be done quickly, and it got done quickly. Okay? Final bill reached the House floor the same day it was introduced during the anthrax attacks with with congressional office buildings closed and members voting with two copies of the bill available on one side of the aisle. There was no conference report and essentially no hearings on the final text. Yeah, it feels, possibly, call me crazy, but it feels like they kind of had all of this in place before 9/11. And

7:36 every bit of our government lockstep, y'all, this is what we're doing, push it through in the president's hand 45 days later to be signed into law. So, yeah, this is this is where we're at. This is where all really began. Because this opened up the door to everything else, total information awareness, which were all of these different programs that then all became private and all of these different companies that were born out of this big project of projects. And then the Patriot Act was there to be the law that allowed it to happen. You know, Palantir was one of those companies.

8:22 And then it was funded by In-Q-Tel, which is CIA. CIA was its first customer for the first 5 years that Palantir existed. But they're a private company, right? 9/11 the reaction to 9/11 from the government was to create the framework of a surveillance state. I mean, that much is obvious. That much is clearly obvious. That the reaction was to set this up. Because prior to this we all had a reasonable expectation of privacy, reasonable expectation of privacy. But the digital age that came in when

9:07 all the laws and all of the programs were being set up to create the surveillance state. And then social media comes in because it makes it the fun thing that gets basically manufactures our consent into this entire system. I even hear people today say "Brooke, why do you care about flock cameras? You carry around a phone that's already logging everything." But it's not the same thing. Just because we opt into some of this doesn't mean that we've opted in to all of this. That's insanity. That's sheer insanity. Like whatever your feelings on 9/11 are. It's obvious that this was all the set

9:53 up the surveillance state that we live in today. Go and learn and you'll see. I'm not lying. You'll see. That what we know as the surveillance state today all traces back to this one event. All traces back to these people, to these institutions, to these programs. And yeah, that's that that's where it all starts. So anyway, just wanted to give a little shout out, a little recognish, some flowers for the Patriot Act. You know, because America's never been safer. I'll tell you that much. America's never been safer than in the era of the Patriot Act. Thank you, Patriot Act.

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