Yesterday we celebrated a small victory in the senate, with the non-passage or blocking of the essential sections of the Patriot Act. Yes it was only a small victory. To use the terminology of the Right, "We have only won a battle in the war on our Civil Liberties.
When the Right realized that they didn't have the votes to make it permanent they began to look like school children wanting a do-over. Senator Frist reminded me of that friend that we have all had, that when he didn't get his way, he would start whining about not understanding, and you cheated.
I have to hand it to the Democratic force, they stood their ground and would not back down. Those who spoke on behalf of our rights hit it right on the head, when they said, "We can not hand the government an unguarded power, because they are not to be trusted." They used the story that I hit on in yesterday's diary, That Bush had signed an illegal order to eavesdrop on citizens of the United States. Read on>>>>
First off I would like to clear up any confusion what took place yesterday, there were some questions as to just what happen, and should we jump up and down in jubilation, or in anger? Well as of now, neither.
What happen is, a filibuster essentially prevented an official end to debate; the chamber cannot vote on the expiring provisions until debate ends. If a compromise on the problematic parts of the measure is not reached, the 16 provisions President Bush considers indispensable to the War on Terror will expire on Dec. 31. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he hopes to bring the bill up again before the holiday recess
Ok, are we clear on what happened? Yea I know, me either.
A Tangled Web of Deception
As I have said before, when you take a close look at the Patriot Act, there are many different laws interwoven into the Act.
One such law, or parts of this law is Electronic Communication Privacy Act When this was added to the Patriot Act, parts were omitted, most of the parts that tell you when it becomes illegal. Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, is another law that is intertwined with the Patriot Act, by way of the Electronic Communication Privacy Act . It was amended, to also contain a wiretap law included.
There have been a few laws since the original Patriot Act was signed into law, that have been passed that pick up if the Patriot Act is ever repealed. Laws such as HR 418, and the Intelligence Reform Act signed a little over a year ago. Where I am going with this is, even though, one day the Patriot Act may be repealed, the opportunity for it to be enforced does not.
As you can see, the Patriot Act has been around longer than this administration, they just created the opportunity, to invoke and expanded on it.
Proof is in the Pudding
As I said above, this administration has proven time and time again, they can't be trusted. No matter how you slice it, they have lied to the people of this country and the countries of the world. Bush in his Speech admitted that he information that he used to go into Iraq was bad. "I still tend to wonder why they just didn't come right out and say, hey we need to go in and control the oil, because Saddam is turning over oil sells into Euros, and along the way we will act like we want to liberate the people of Iraq. Oh yea, we would have told him to go _ _ ck himself!
A Message To All My Right-Wing Friends (Both of Them)
If these Sections of the Patriot Act Sunset, you can blame your leader for it! Early yesterday Resident Bush told the supporters of the Patriot Act, he would veto a 3 month extension..Why would he make such a stupid statement? With an extension they could work out the problem areas. With out the extension, those sections (go away.) The Right-Wing kept repeating the residents words as if it were a threat.
Here's what I believe they are doing. As I have pointed out, there are so many different laws woven in to the Patriot Act, it doesn't really matter if those sections sunset. Also no matter how many time they say it, the whole Patriot Act does not sunset on the 31st of this month, just those sections.
So we find out that the Right-Wing any time they are faced with a loss, will pullout the fear card.
ABA