I Hope The Dems Are Really Proud of the 'Patriot' Act

[MannyGoldstein]

So Congress twice passes an abusive and easily-abusable 'Patriot' Act.

Then it's used to illegally pry into the private lives of citizens.

I hope the craven triangultors, who constitute the bulk of the Congressional 'Dems', are very fucking proud. Particularly those that voted to reauthorize the sucker.

Feh.

[INdemo]

1. You are forgetting that Republicans still had control when the last Patriot

bill was passed.

[ccpup]

3. no, don't do that.

MannyGoldstein really, really wants to be angry about this, despite the fact that the Dems -- when the Patriot Act was passed -- had been effectively neutered by a power mad Republican Congress and a complacent, lazy media. But don't tell Manny that! Again, Manny wants to be really, really angry about this. Let's not let Facts and Reality get in the way!

(I'm just in a piss-and-vinegar mood today. My apologies if anyone is offended)

[MissWaverly]

4. they could have opened their mouths

look at what we bloggers have done, we have manned the barricade in the never ending war
against america that has gone on since coup 2000. We said 2000 was rigged, I posted last
year about the fbi using 1 million NSL letters to spy on party goers in Vegas for New Years
in 2004. We have never shut up and look what has happened. Most of what was considered
insane has now become accepted. A 9-11 cover-up, abuse of power, war based on lies, we
have stepped up to the plate, congress which has more access to information than we do,
has been strangely silent. And we were just average people, not power brokers in our
nations capital, not individuals who were given the job of defending the constitution
and the rule of law.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Yes, They Were Compelled To Vote For It

I suppose that triangulation works for your sort.

[dionysus]

7. is that really an excuse to vote for it though?

merits of the patriot act aside, using the excuse of being in the minority to go along to get along isn't very laudable

[sampsonblk]

9. GOP is in the minority now

You don't hear this stupid cowardly shit from them, do you?

Even in the minority, the GOP is still in control because of weak thinking (or lack thereof) on the part of so many in our party.

[DeeDeeNY]

2. I think Feingold was the only one to have the courage

He refused to vote for the Patriot Act, and that is why he has my wholehearted support.
Yet if he were going to run for President, that vote would be used in countless ways to smear him.
That is the dilemma faced by anyone in Congress who wants to run for President. Their votes will be twisted and distorted by
the Right.

[zulchzulu]

6. Don't forget the Democrats at least put in some sunset laws

Granted, I was opposed to the bill, but it was done very manipulatively while the ashes of what happened on 9/11 were still burning. If you look at the chain of events that led to its passage, you saw that the Bush Cabal was more to blame and will be seen as so historically.

Give the Democrats at least some credit for putting in sunset laws that expired many parts of the act...that's at least one silver lining in this tragic legislation.

[AtomicKitten]

8. and just think how proud the Republicans must be