GOP Threatens Punishment Over Patriot Act Vote from Sirotablog

[Pirate Smile]

The Hill Newspaper reports that the House Republican leadership is preparing to punish those Republicans who voted last week for legislation reforming the Patriot Act. The bill, sponsored by Independent Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders, forces law enforcement officials to get proper warrants before searching citizens' library/bookstore records. It drew the support of 38 Republicans lawmakers.

The first lawmaker in the crosshairs is Alaska Rep. Don Young (R), who may now be denied the chairmanship of the Homeland Security Committee. Pathetically, the ever-opportunistic Rep. Peter King (R) seized on the news for his own self-promotion. He claimed "I can understand someone being against it" yet then said "it’s difficult to understand someone being against it and then being chairman of the Homeland Security Committee." For a neanderthal like King, you are either for securing the homeland, or for defending citizens' rights to privacy - and you can't be both, even though America has managed to strike a decent balance for the better part of its 200 year history.

We'll see how this plays out - and whether the legislation survives the process as it moves to the Senate and then to a conference commitee. But with the New York Times' explosive report yesterday about how often the government is searching libraries, it seems both Democratic and Republican support for this bill is holding firm.

http://www.davidsirota.com/

[autorank]

1. Re arranging deck chairs on the Titanic

If Don Young, R, is at all bright he'll be the first of many who give a big fuck you salute to the * administration. Look at Arnie S in CA, 37% approval, says he may not run. Hey Arnie, you may not get nominated. Now * is headed for Arnie territory. Imagine that 37% for * in the not too distant future. Even Pat Buchanan (opponent but smart) only predicted * in the low 40's. Well, get ready for a slide down Occam's Razor as the country divides 37-63% for us.

Hey Young, come on over. The weather is getting pretty good on our side of the aisle.