Salt Lake City Weekly: "Hatch-et Job"

[porkrind]

Come on, people. Hatch is a right-wing ideologue who needs to go. He has been in the senate since 1976, and is up for re-election in 2006.

http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2004/edit_2004-04-22.cfm

... “Show me,” he (Hatch) said, in effect, “one concrete abuse of the (Patriot) Act.” ...

... Abuses? Hatch’s eyes are shut. We are, after all, talking about a man with curious ways of dealing with terrorism. Cast back to the Iran-Contra affair of 1986. With Lebanon home to 241 dead Marines and Americans held hostage, President Reagan vowed not to deal with terrorists. Lt. Col. Oliver North had different ideas, selling 1,500 missiles to “terrorist” Iran, and then diverting money to Latin America’s Contras, who in turn waged their own brand of terrorism against the people of Nicaragua. In a letter to Nancy Reagan, Hatch called North “one of the most loyal and courageous soldiers of this Administration, right or wrong.” ...

... Today, Hatch seems comfortable with an Act that operates on the premise that we must compromise our freedoms in order to protect them. And please answer this: If report after report states that the 9/11 attacks could easily have been prevented with better cooperation between the FBI and CIA, and with tighter security measures by the FAA, what need have we of the Patriot Act at all? ...

[stopbush]

1. That's Orrin "Terrorism is a phony issue" Hatch to you and me.

"Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, emerged from the meeting and said, "These are very controversial provisions that the White House wants. Some they're not going to get."

Hatch called Clinton's proposed study of taggants -- chemical markers in explosives that could help track terrorists -- "a phony issue."

"If they want to, they can study the thing" already, Hatch asserted. He also said he had some problems with the president's proposals to expand wiretapping."

Here: http://www.cnn.com/US/9607/30/clinton.terrorism/

[Sean Reynolds]

2. Was it not Hatch who said that Moss' time was up?

Back when Hatch ran in 76? I say we start saying Hatch's time is up.