Patriot Act hasn’t made us safer from terror
To the editor:
It has been 10 long years since our elected representatives in Washington decided to use the 9/11 terrorist attacks as justification for passing legislation with the intention of keeping us safer. The legislation passed was the USA Patriot Act.
Has the Patriot Act really protected us from terrorism? National Security Letters are basically warrants issued by FBI agents to search a citizen's banking history, phone records, computer records and credit history without ever being reviewed by a judge before issued. More than 192,000 of these National Security Letters were issued between 2003 and 2006. Thousands of terrorists, or at least hundreds, should have been prosecuted, right? Wrong. Of the 192,000 letters issued, only one led to the conviction of a terrorist.
"Sneak and peek" searches allow law enforcement agents to search your house, place of business and other private property without you present and without ever notifying you first. We had a heightened sense of fear after 9/11, and we over-reacted as a nation when we allowed this not-so-patriotic piece of legislation to be passed.
Too much power is concentrated in the government as a result of this law, and it is time we take a hard look at the Patriot Act and ourselves. So many have fought and died for American ideals. Some of those core American ideals protect individual liberties from government intrusion.
As Benjamin Frankin said, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Eric Lowe
Las Vegas
The writer is president of the ACLU of Nevada Student Organization at UNLV.
Political hacks
To the editor:
Your Tuesday editorial about former Assemblyman Morse Arberry's plea bargain was right on.
It is always the same story. Politician takes money, then, with the help of political cronies, politician gets away with crime. It is obvious that until we put these political hacks in jail, nothing will ever change.
A familiar figure once again comes to the forefront in the plea deal that allowed Arberry to get lenient treatment: Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto. Ms. Masto rode into office on the fame of her father, the late Manny Cortez. Ms. Masto gained recognition by flip-flopping on the open meeting law and not taking action to support it. And, of course, like all party faithful, she declined to file suit against ObamaCare.
So now, thanks to Ms. Masto's generosity, Arberry gets to join the long line of luminaries before him who have also betrayed the public trust but somehow managed to stay out of jail, enabling him to cash in on a future lobbying career and lucrative pension on the taxpayers' dime.
Ron Moers
Henderson
Crossing flags
To the editor:
Regarding the recent accident in a crosswalk that killed a little girl and hurt two others:
I would like to suggest a system I have seen in Utah. At either end of the crosswalk, a basket is attached to a pole. Each basket contains a few red plastic flags on dowels. The flags are about one square foot in size.
Every pedestrian who crosses the street grabs a flag, holds it up while crossing and puts it in the basket on the other side.
The red flag is definitely more visible than fading crosswalk lines, and I'm sure this would help prevent accidents.
It's worth a try in our city.
Esther Abele
Las Vegas
Political points
To the editor:
I doubt U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has lost his mind, though, as columnist Sherman Frederick writes, it sure looks that way ("Has Harry Reid lost his mind?" Sunday Review-Journal).
No, when Sen. Reid said the private sector is "doing just fine" and "It's the public-sector jobs where we've lost huge numbers," he knew what he was doing: lying to score a political point. Sen. Reid and his fellow solons make such a habit of this that truth becomes an irrelevancy.
This is how, as Mr. Frederick noted, Sen. Reid could have helped Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank impose their monstrous Dodd-Frank financial regulatory bill on the nation even though Dodd and Frank had played a central role in shaping and protecting housing and lending policies that caused the housing collapse and financial crisis.
Apparently when people as are shamelessly partisan as Sen. Reid, truth is not the only victim. So is irony.
Steve Stanek
Chicago
The writer is a research fellow with The Heartland Institute.
Obama visit
To the editor:
Where have I heard "You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas ... on the taxpayers' dime"? Oh, yes. From President Barack Obama, the same man who just took his third trip to Las Vegas on the taxpayers' dime (Tuesday Review-Journal). I didn't know that my tax dollars could be used for campaigning for office. Silly me. I guess that admonition, "Do as I say, not as I do," really is true.
As I did not voluntarily contribute to the president's campaign fund, I would like to deduct my share of the costs of these trips from my taxes.
Yeah, fat chance.
Robert J. Rosin
Las Vegas
