The PATRIOT Act (Group 1)

Opposing the Act (Russ Feingold)

First of all, I just want to lay it out there right away that Russ Feingold is pretty much my hero. I know the family and I greatly admire how all of them are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in, even when setting oneself apart from the crowd (such as Russ did with his vote on the PATRIOT Act) could have devastating ramifications for career goals. We need more people like that in this world.

As for Feingold's argument in this speech, I think it is sad that a lot of what he is saying isn't too different from what a lot of people say, but that it has continued to receive little attention from the powers that be. "Flying while Muslim" is a continued offense in the eyes of many powerful figures, and racial profiling continues to a large extent with air travel, and in other circles as well. "Guilt by association" as a whole is definitely something that needs to be better thought out, and I think this arrives at his main point. Feingold does recognize the need for solid security measures, but has perhaps a deeper understanding of the stifling effects that library and computer censorship could have

Government Surveillance and Political Participation on the Internet (Brian Krueger)

This was an interesting study, and the conclusions from the research done by Krueger isn't necessarily what I think I may have predicted. This provides us an interesting perspective on how people are actually responding to the issues implicit with the Act in their day-to-day activities, but I'm not completely sure that it's the end-all-be-all of any McCarthy period-esque censorship.

The Internet, by nature, is an excellent platform for divergent thought, and it makes now that I think about it, that this counter movement to the majority is not dissuaded by perceived government surveillance. These sorts of "off center" people are less likely to allow the fear of being censored to keep them from speaking their mind, and it's almost a reclaiming of power to use the Internet in the way that they want to, rather than the way that they may be told to.

In short, I think that Internet use is generally too micro of a platform to truly get a feel for the macro effects of this Act, as Krueger mentioned, but is definitely an interesting argument.