Patriot Act Up For Renewal, Nobody Notices 463
Ponca City, We Love You writes "When the Patriot Act was first signed in 2001, it was billed as a temporary measure required because of the extreme circumstances created by the terrorist threat. The fear from its opponents was that executive power, once given, is seldom relinquished. Now the Examiner reports that on January 5th, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) introduced a bill to add yet another year to the soon-to-be-expiring Patriot Act, extending it until February, 2012, with passage likely to happen after little debate or contention. If passed, this would be the second time the Obama administration has punted on campaign promises to roll back excessive surveillance measures allowed under the act. Last year's extension passed under the heading of the Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act. 'Given the very limited number of days Congress has in session before the current deadline, and the fact that the bill's Republican sponsor is only seeking another year, I think it's safe to read this as signaling an agreement across the aisle to put the issue off yet again,' writes Julian Sanchez."
Surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is anyone surprised that Patriot act has bipartisan support? At the time it was passed all Democrat senators voted for it except for one (Feingold) and he is not in senate anymore. Democrats always supported the act, just like the Republicans did. Obama has renewed it regularly since so its a safe bet that he would have voted for it had he been in senate at the time.
About Obama's campaign promises. (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's not forget his promise to shut down Guantanamo and to end the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy.
Re:He could always... (Score:5, Insightful)
Obama would never do such a thing. If any even mild terrorist action occurred, it would be shouted from the rafters. It would sound something like this: "Hussein did not keep us safe. Or show us his birth certificate. In fact, the reason why he vetoed PATRIOT Act is because he is a secret Muslim terrorist who will bring down the United States and all Christians with his terrorist fist bump." Or something like that.
Obama clearly doesn't have the political courage to repeal PATRIOT, but neither would McCain, Palin, Biden, or really anyone aside from the Pauls. Which is unfortunate because PATRIOT is an awful piece of legislation that does nothing to keep us safe, but rather does the opposite by eroding our liberties.
Re:He could always... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is there something that makes you think the will of the Democratic party is much different from that of the Republican party?
And you go berserk and mod us down when (Score:4, Insightful)
and when we call on americans, some of you come up saying that not all americans are the same, some of you actually see what's going on, and aware of how things really are. ok. well. nice.
however, you have to do that, BEFORE being called out. if, you dont speak, and instead let the most loud voice that speaks be of irrationality and make-believe, it means that you are basically leaving the arena to such minded people.
when the wise dont speak, fools have the day.
Re:He could always... (Score:2, Insightful)
Sooner to be free with a small 1 in billion odds of death-by-terrorist vs. a 1-1 certainty of being spied upon.
1 in a billion, methinks you don't understand statistics.
How Long until (Score:5, Insightful)
They've done it on other things. It's a scam where they can refuse to vote, it automatically passes, and they can claim they didn't vote for it.
It's going to take a lot of people to metaphorically kick them in the balls repeatedly until they get the idea that maybe that nazi act needs to be retired before they'll do it.
What Congress really needs .... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:He could always... (Score:5, Insightful)
No disagreement from me. But the political reality is that Obama, Bush, Palin, McCain, and pretty much everyone else in Washington doesn't give a fig newton for your civil liberties if compromising them gets the politician elected.
Re:But he... (Score:4, Insightful)
Obama voted to renew the USA PATRIOT Act while he was still a Senator. It was one of the few things he even took a side on.
All this means is people who voted for Obama were ignorant rubes who couldn't do something as simple as checking a voting record — even one as short as Obama's!
Re:He could always... (Score:4, Insightful)
it is very different, but just as corrupt.
Re:Hope and... (Score:5, Insightful)
True story, bro. President Obama will not veto the Patriot Act. One thing both parties agree on, the Patriot act is a great tool for maintaining the status quo of the current power elites.
Re:He could always... (Score:3, Insightful)
Back when Bush enacted this monstrosity, I remember warning conservatives that it wouldn't just go away, that someday, an evil DEMONCRAT would have that power. They just scoffed. Vindication sucks sometimes.
step by step (Score:5, Insightful)
"What no one seemed to notice... was the ever widening gap... between the government and the people. The dictatorship, and the whole process of its coming into being, was above all diverting. It provided an excuse not to think for people who did not want to think anyway... and kept us so busy with continuous changes and 'crises' and so fascinated, yes, fascinated, by the machinations of the 'national enemies,' without and within, that we had no time to think about these dreadful things that were growing, little by little, all around us. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, 'regretted,' that... one no more saw it developing from day to day than a farmer in his field sees the corn growing. One day it is over his head. Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. But the one great shocking occasion... never comes. That's the difficulty." - Milton Mayer (1908-1986) journalist and educator, writing about the Nazi takeover of Germany from the point of view of the average citizen, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1938-45
Americans seem to fall into these categories:
The rich - they don't care about justice or injustice, just money
The poor - they may care but they have no power
The oblivious - they're busy watching American Idol and eating pizza
The middle class - they're just trying to maintain or looking for work
"What keeps most Americans from being shocked by the shredding of the Bill of Rights is that they have yet to feel the consequences, either personally or through someone close to them. It would appear, however, that they only have to wait." - William Blum
Re:He could always... (Score:5, Insightful)
All of those things and more will be shouted from the rafters no matter what he does. He could single handedly create a lasting utopia for all on earth and there will still be some wingnut screaming that he's not really an American and it's all a trick.
Re:He could always... (Score:5, Insightful)
Far left?
The fucker leans so far to the right he practically falls over.
He passed the health care bill the republicans proposed under gingrinch, he kept gitmo, what more do you want him to blow Rush?
Here is a hint, left would include consumer protection, public option at least if not single payer, downsizing of the military, closing gitmo, etc.
Re:He could always... (Score:1, Insightful)
Yeah, that's a shame. All they have right now is they guy who controls the legislative agenda in the Senate. And they had the person who controlled the legistlative agenda in the House, as well, but her absurd antics in the name of progressivism are exactly why that's no longer true. If progressives don't have "a voice" (really? there are some very vocal, very left people in congress) because one of the most left of them just lost her speakership, it's because progressives showed their nature in ramming through the monstrosity that is that health care fiasco, and got roundly and appropriately spanked for it by voters.
Re:Hope and... (Score:5, Insightful)
I think moreso than anything else, the Patriot Act can be held up as a shining example of both parties caring about nothing more than maintaining power. The Patriot Act goes against almost everything the Democratic party supposedly stands for; quietly continuing its usage and doing nothing to try to kill it should be proof to all but the most hardcore lefties that their beloved politicos are no better than the right-wingers they despise.
"I'll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here: I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs. I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking. Wait a minute, there's one guy holding out both puppets!" -Bill Hicks
Re:What Does It mean (Score:5, Insightful)
No, it is time to face the fact that D and R are on the same fucking team and you are not.
Re:voted (Score:4, Insightful)
While I agree that Obama has left much to be desired, comparing a common speech problem with a bumbling idiot is flamebait at best and ignorant at worst.
I mean, come on...seriously? Making fun of a guy who pseudo-stutters? What is this, fucking kindergarten?
Re:And you go berserk and mod us down when (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, no. Even on MSNBC they criticize Democrats heavily.
And CNN has more conservatives on air than liberals, significantly.
Republican talking points get a lot more unquestioning play than any liberal or Democratic ones... even on Networks.
And DON'T think that Republican/Conservatives/FOX News are anti-big government... they're NOT. Republicans and FOX News are very, very pro-big-government. They just believe in big government for the wealthy, the corporations, and the militarty industrial complex. In fact, 80% of the national debt was run up under Republican Presidents. The biggest increases in government spending happened under Bush, when he had all three branches of government in Republican control. The notion that Republicans (and by extension, FOX News) is in any way "small-government" or "fiscally responsible" is just a big, blatent lie.
BOTH parties are "big-government". The only difference is who benefits the most.
Re:He could always... (Score:4, Insightful)
You mean, like Nancy Pelosi, who swore she wouldn't allow such a bill without one? Like her?
Re:Hope and... (Score:5, Insightful)
In case you haven't ever noticed, there is no left wing in the US. There are two rights.
Re:step by step (Score:2, Insightful)
The poor - they don't understand money. As soon as they have some, they spend it. They never go anywhere because they blame their situation on others and don't try to save, invest, or do anything different. They don't educate themselves even though there are opportunities.
The middle class - they don't understand money either. They spend it, maybe save a little bit, but never invest it. When they want stuff, they use credit to get it. They never go anywhere because they blame their situation on others and don't try to invest or do anything different. If they start a business, it wears them out because they don't know how to make a business work for them instead of working for their business.
Did you say something about twisted views? Yes, because all poor and middle class people have an opportunity to be rich, correct? They're just not educated! Absolute garbage, in my opinion.
The oblivious: anyone who believes money is evil, or that it's evil when it's concentrated. If anyone really believed that, then they would renounce all possessions and join a cloister so that they could be free of evil.
The oblivious: those who fail to see the corruption in our government and continue voting for the same two parties over and over.
Also, if you want to participate in this society, you almost definitely need money. I think money causes harm, but due to the fact that I practically need it in this society at this current time, I must use it. It's absolutely absurd to claim that anyone who believes that money is evil must foolishly throw all of theirs away and go hide in the woods somewhere.
Re:But he... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:He could always... (Score:2, Insightful)
No, thus proving that the progressive agenda in that regard, despite her attempts to ram it through using lies and obfuscation, were too toxic for even the rest of her own caucus. That didn't prove she isn't a progressive, it proved that being one and actually saying out loud what you want gets exactly the response one would expect: most people want no part of it, and will act to rein it in.
Re:Hope and... (Score:5, Insightful)
Damn straight he is. The center in this country wants a public health care option, an end to the Bush tax cuts, the Patriot Act repealed, Gitmo closed, and their kids home from getting shot at in the desert. That's the center. The Obama administration is firmly to the right of it. It's not hard to understand.