Feb 27 2010

Opinion Piece: Hoodwinked

I’ve read some of the speculation about the politics of the Patriot Act renewal happening under all our noses while the HCR spectacle diverted our attention.

AndyS in Colorado hit the nail on the head on what’s very fishy about this political act:

The Patriot Act provisions were set to expire this year.  People who rallied the entire country to vote for Barack Obama, the entire liberal blogosphere was on fire for years at the unconstitutionality of this law and its depredations on the Fourth Amendment among others.

— snip–

Let me remind the reader that provisions of the Patriot Act were set to expire this year.  To defeat those Patriot Act provisions required no action at all.

Yet here we are.

Ok.  I’m no political genius, but I would say that doing “nothing at all” politically on an issue all of us were passionate about appears to be an action in and of itself that goes against the latest political style of following the “path of least resistance.”

Are our representatives actually going to try to make us believe this was necessary for our national security?

‘Cause if they do that, I’d suggest buying a lot of stock in anti-indigestion medicine.  It’ll go sky high.

30 comments

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  1. … the political establishment is going to realize they can’t get away with this nonsense any more and have the word not get out over the internet?

    My guess is it’ll take less than a week for good bloggers to get the whole story, or at least enough of it to be a path to the truth.

    Yeah.  National security.

    • TMC on February 27, 2010 at 22:27
    • #

    Watching the Nolympics: Patriot Act Extended, Health Care Reform Kabuki

    Pity the poor Democrats. They control the White House and huge majorities in both chambers, but they just can’t manage to restore civil liberties taken away by the Republicans under Bush. Those mean Republicans will just say no.

    Yet there are people on the blogs who would have the voters continue to support the President and the Democrats. Why? Because the Republicans are worse? Really? How?

    • Edger on February 27, 2010 at 22:30
    • #

    After Obama signs, it will be a Democratic Patriot Act. Much better than having a Republican Patriot Act, no?

    And if only Democrats had that supermajority then Obama wouldn’t have to hold his nose and sign it, right?

    I mean, he’s a good guy and this is probably tearing him apart and keeping him awake in tortured anguish, and he really doesn’t want to sign it, but there is no bipartisan support for letting these provisions expire, right?



    Right?

    The House voted 315 to 97 to extend the USA Patriot Act, sending the bill to President Barack Obama. Without the bill, the provisions would expire Sunday.

    The Senate approved the extension Wednesday. The privacy protections were cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Thrown away were restrictions and greater scrutiny on the government’s authority to spy on Americans and seize their records.

    …

    The three sections of the Patriot act that would stay in force:

    – Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones.

    – Allow court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations.

    – Permit surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.

    Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., noted that the bill with privacy protections had been approved in committee by a bipartisan majority.

    — Seattle Times

  4. Oh, maybe someone did something about it.  But I scanned the entire front page when I posted the initial essay and I’m looking at it right now .. there’s nothing there.

    Maybe someone did a diary on it over there but the relative silence is telling.

    They couldn’t figure out how to say it’s a mass hallucination of the radical left and couldn’t do it, so they choose to ignore it.

  5. Cheney stuck the Bushie Federal government on auto pilot just before he and W bailed.

    Faced with multiple looming disasters that they don’t know how to deal with, Obama and the rest of the Dem leadership decided that simply leaving the autopilot on and pretending to fly would be a lot easier (and more lucrative) than actually grabbing the controls.

    And sure, the mountain may still be dead ahead.

    But hey, Obama sure looks great in his captain’s uniform.

  6. stick a fork in me.

    i am declaring it: no longer a Democrat.

    there aren’t any Democrats left.

  8. in my time on line lately, and I just turned off the TV as far as news and I haven’t read a thing about this in my usual haunts. It’s like it didn’t happen. Shayahar read it here and told mt last night. This is truly strange no diaries about it no FP on it that I can find. It’s a real backstabber by all involved including Russ Feingold, Mr. Progressive Patriot. They don’t car at all. They have their dog and pony show going full tilt to distract from things like this and between the one party have managed to make rehashed campaign mode battles  and procedural fights the main focus. What’s the deal with the so called liberal Democrat in the Senate since when is procedural process and chemistry along with by-partisan more important then upholding the constitution and the Law?        

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