"HeyBub" wrote in message
m...

I agree with what you've said, but hear this: Administrative Subpoenas
(AS) are not substitutes for search warrants. An (AS) will not issue to
search your house or tap your phone.

Not yet. But the list of things ASs are used for continues to grow, there
are now over 300 areas in which federal agencies may use this approach
instead of going before a judge. The Dept. of Labor Wage and Hour Division
is allowed to use ASs even in the absence of probable cause, so make sure
you pay your landscaping crew on time, HeyBub.

I'll say it again: There is no expectation of privacy in a commercial
transaction. What you SAY to your doctor or lawyer or clergyman may be
privileged, but what you PAY them is not.

How about what you pay them for? Clearly the issues you discuss with your
doctor or lawyer are privileged, and it doesn't matter how much you paid.
And your landlord still can't walk into your apartment whenever he pleases
despite that he owns the place. Clearly there are commercial transactions
with an expectation of privacy, and it is ridiculous to try to split a visit
to your doctor into commercial and non-commercial segments.

Almost correct. For example, the ISP cannot divulge the contents of
emails, but can divulge their source and destination.

And everything else they know about you including who you are and where you
live and how you pay and when you were online and so on and so forth--all
without a judge agreeing the LEA has a legitimate need to poke its nose into
your affairs.

Like the man said: Those who would give up Essential Liberty to
purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor
Safety.

It was Ben Franklin. He's dead.

As are all the Founding Fathers, is that a good reason to ignore what they
said and wrote?

Security vs. Liberty has always been a balancing test. During times of
stress, security takes precedence. When the threat recedes, liberty
returns.

You hope. And if it doesn't, oh well, it's not like the govt. would ever
turn its newfound powers on you, no way.

There were the Alien & Sedition Acts enacted under President John Adams.

Which were instantly used not to defend the nation but to suppress political
opponents of the administration. Gee, who could have imagined such a thing
would happen?

President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus.

Ah yes, again to allow the administration of the day to do what it wanted
even if the people disagreed and even if the courts said the act was
illegal--what could be seen as wrong there?

Roosevelt interred the Japanese.

Oh, you must mean Americans of Japanese descent, as opposed to Americans of
German descent or Americans of Italian descent who were not locked up unless
they were citizens of a hostile power. And then the 442 became the most
decorated unit in the Army despite that the friends and relations of the
Japanese-American soldiers in that unit were behind barbed wire in the
desert. Still, can't be too careful, those Ornamentals are notoriously
untrustworthy.

In each of these cases, our betters believed the continued existence of
the country took precedence over whether someone's feelings got hurt.

Let's lock you up in a desert camp under primitive conditions for a few
years on the basis of the ethnic origins of your family and see if you
describe the experience as merely having your feelings hurt. As always
you're happy to trivialize the suffering of other people, there is no doubt
your story would be different if you were the one with the boot on your
neck.