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Senator Ted Cruz ‏@SenTedCruz 1h

"Anyone know if President Obama intends to perform background checks on the Syrian rebels before providing them weapons?"

Just one more reason to like this guy!

Genius!

Bazinga.!!

So, the US is going to arm only the RIGHT rebels? Good luck with that.

Even if we could ascertain which rebels deserve to be given arms, there's a high
likelihood that when the dust settles, it will be the most radical of the Islamists who
seize power in Syria. Still in control of the weapons which we have given to them. Sheesh!

SIA

The tweet is really great, but I found his press release regarding NSA to be less than inspiring.

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=344004" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:So, the US is going to arm only the RIGHT rebels? Good luck with that.

Even if we could ascertain which rebels deserve to be given arms, there's a high
likelihood that when the dust settles, it will be the most radical of the Islamists who
seize power in Syria. Still in control of the weapons which we have given to them. Sheesh!

SIA

Looks like we are replacing "Fast and Furious" with "Quick and Foolish"

surprise_i'm_armed wrote:So, the US is going to arm only the RIGHT rebels? Good luck with that.

Even if we could ascertain which rebels deserve to be given arms, there's a high
likelihood that when the dust settles, it will be the most radical of the Islamists who
seize power in Syria. Still in control of the weapons which we have given to them. Sheesh!

SIA

/sarcasm

Why not. We are giving high-tech fighters to the Egyptian govt. who hates us....free weapons for all who hate the US.

/sarcasm off

2firfun50 wrote:The tweet is really great, but I found his press release regarding NSA to be less than inspiring.

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=344004" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Care to share why?

If US do not arm the defecting Syrian soldiers, then Petro dollars would buy them whatever they need. US always sell to KSA like $60B of weaponry each 4 yrs. Diverting some of that to Syrian Rebels is as easy as sending pre-fab houses, tents and meals.

Arming some entity by US, is making said armed entity their US gringo. That is pure Politics. That is called securing influence in hostile foreign environment.

jocat54 wrote:

2firfun50 wrote:The tweet is really great, but I found his press release regarding NSA to be less than inspiring.

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=344004" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Care to share why?

Given many of the Senator's rather pointed responses to other issues regarding constitutional issues, I found these comments in his press release to be rather bland.

I will be working with my colleagues in the Senate who share my concerns

I'd like to know who those colleagues are. The only one I've heard publically speak out firmly against the NSA actions is Rand Paul. There are also a couple of Dems' who have voiced their opposing positions to the NSA. I'd also like the Senator to clearly state what his concerns are and his proposal to address those concerns.

...................................our government is appropriately balancing concerns of national security with Americans' personal liberties

.

In my way of thinking, these is no "balance" when the government is violating the 4th amendment by vacuuming up everyone's phone metadata. This metadata may not contain the actual voice communication, but what about the body of text messages?

Senator Cruz isn't, at least, coming out like other members of both parties and loudly defending the unconstitutional data collection. He isn't condemning it either.

I've never believed the Patriot Act to be constitutional since its inception. Secret courts, "sneak a peek", some supervisor signing a letter, etc. make me very uneasy. If law enforcement needs to investigate an individual, or organization, file out a probable cause statement and a search warrant and take it to a real judge who is known to the public. We have the only "balance" we really need in the 4th amendment

Since this law requires a regular Congressional vote to reauthorize its existance, the majority of the legislators have been caught with their pants down. It was reauthorized in 2011. They (both parties) are stuggling hard to cut down the draft.

I just expect more from Senator Cruz.

2firfun50 wrote:I've never believed the Patriot Act to be constitutional since its inception. Secret courts, "sneak a peek", some supervisor signing a letter, etc. make me very uneasy. If law enforcement needs to investigate an individual, or organization, file out a probable cause statement and a search warrant and take it to a real judge who is known to the public. We have the only "balance" we really need in the 4th amendment.

Just out of curiosity - have you actually read the Patriot Act?

2firfun50 wrote:In my way of thinking, these is no "balance" when the government is violating the 4th amendment by vacuuming up everyone's phone metadata. This metadata may not contain the actual voice communication, but what about the body of text messages?

Senator Cruz isn't, at least, coming out like other members of both parties and loudly defending the unconstitutional data collection. He isn't condemning it either..

Jury's still out for me... The question is... Do I believe they're only collecting the data from the outside of the envelope?

If in fact they can only see the "To" and "From", then it's less of an issue for me, other than the fact that anything that causes media grief for Obama is a happy moment. I can certainly argue that collecting data about me IN ANY WAY without PC is a violation of the trust I cede to my government... Remember, I own the government, they do not own me... However... if they are "copying my mail" so they can have the opportunity to look at it later if they get a probable cause hit on my metadata, then that, certainly, is a 4th Amendment violation, IMO.

baldeagle wrote:

2firfun50 wrote:I've never believed the Patriot Act to be constitutional since its inception. Secret courts, "sneak a peek", some supervisor signing a letter, etc. make me very uneasy. If law enforcement needs to investigate an individual, or organization, file out a probable cause statement and a search warrant and take it to a real judge who is known to the public. We have the only "balance" we really need in the 4th amendment.

Just out of curiosity - have you actually read the Patriot Act?

Yes I have and stand by my original post. I fear Code Enforcement more than terrorism and if a TSA agent ever touches my grand daughter, I'll need lots of bail money. NSA, DHS, Patriot Act, etc. makes me feel less safe.

I liked the Tweet, pretty funny. And I didn't seen anything wrong with his press release, either. Bland, yes, but not wrong. He seems to be against what has been done in the name of "security". Having tools is a far cry from indiscriminately vacuuming up phone and internet data.

RoyGBiv wrote:

2firfun50 wrote:In my way of thinking, these is no "balance" when the government is violating the 4th amendment by vacuuming up everyone's phone metadata. This metadata may not contain the actual voice communication, but what about the body of text messages?

Senator Cruz isn't, at least, coming out like other members of both parties and loudly defending the unconstitutional data collection. He isn't condemning it either..

Jury's still out for me... The question is... Do I believe they're only collecting the data from the outside of the envelope?

If in fact they can only see the "To" and "From", then it's less of an issue for me, other than the fact that anything that causes media grief for Obama is a happy moment. I can certainly argue that collecting data about me IN ANY WAY without PC is a violation of the trust I cede to my government... Remember, I own the government, they do not own me... However... if they are "copying my mail" so they can have the opportunity to look at it later if they get a probable cause hit on my metadata, then that, certainly, is a 4th Amendment violation, IMO.

That metadata contains much more than "To" and "From". It also contains from where to where, and how long. It also firmly links to your account. So unless you use a paid with cash burn phone, they have access to a "lot" about you.

Back to the original subject. Obama said he won't arm the Syrians "just willy-nilly". That makes me feel better! Yeah right.