Looks like the Patriot Act is going down to defeat. Bush has such little sway with the moderates in his party, that they revolted against the controversial provisions in the Patriot Act, you know, the ones that allow the F.B.I. to find out what books you checked out. These provisions that give extended power to organizations like the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. (Whom Bush blames for the massive intelligence failures on Iraq, and why he wasn’t able to act quick enough regarding 9-11 btw), are set to expire at the end of this year.
If the Senate does nothing, the Patriot Act will be gutted of its liberty smashing abilities. The House has already approved all 16 of the controversial and expiring laws, so it’s all up to the Senate.
Senate rules allow the use of a Filibuster, (although Bill Frist [under investigation by the S.E.C.] has threatened to end this Senatorial right), according to traditional Senate rules, you need 60 votes to break a filibuster. This action, known as “invoking cloture” ends debate on the Senete floor and brings the bill or resolution to a vote.
Right now the Senate is split 52-47 on the Patriot Act, making cloture a very difficult task to obtain. This does not guarantee it will not pass. The Bush Administration may offer “treats” to anyone who supports the legislation, such as large sums of money that can be spent on a Senators pet project for instance. Such is the way of our Congress, unfortunately.
I for one would love to see this miserable “Act” go down to defeat. There is not one notable conviction under the extended Patriot Act rules, and I for one do not believe that giving more power to the government will solve anything. As the old Ben Franklin saying goes:
As we are now learning that Bush allowed the N.S.A. to spy on Americans telephone conversations, (and that’s in the N.Y. Times) the question of whether or not our rights are being threatened is truthfully answered.
I don’t understand how righties can claim to be Libertarian, and use the Waco incident as proof. There is an excellent essay written by Timothy Lynch of the Cato Instutute that talks about Waco (the Cato Institute opposes the Iraq War btw).
You can’t have it both ways, Ashcroft and the uninspiring Gonzales have carried forward and continue to carry forward (in the case of the later) a policy of superior government over the rights and liberties of the individual. Their intentions may or may not be good, however one thing is obvious, the policies at Guantanamo Bay, the torture policy in Iraq (written by Gonzales pre-Attorney General btw) are not in the spirit of true American liberty. Even John McCain, a Republican who was captured and tortured by the N.V.A. is decidedly against the policy of torture.
That being said, we need to see our own liberties as fragile and under constant threat of a government that would love to take them away from us. Perhaps we are spoiled and have gotten so used to our civil liberties that we don’t take them seriously.
Regarding the Patriot Act, even American Businesses are asking for a reduction of the Act’s power. When Republicans begin ignoring the Business community, you know they’re out of touch.
I also don’t get it why the right always bash the A.C.L.U. Well I get it why the conservative and fascist leaning Righties do, but I can’t for the life of me understand why Libertarians can side with a party that bashes those that defend our liberties. I mean, they stuck up for Rush Limbaugh for God’s sake!
This Theocratic right seems to have successfully divided the Libertarians in half. Isn’t it time that we renew the fight for our freedom and keep Uncle Sam out of our homes?