Reply #5: WTF? "What other choice did those Senators have?" Well,

[Nay]

they could have ignored what Gore seemed to want and gone on to protect American democracy, for one. The Congressional Black Caucus managed to do just that. All they were asking for was ONE senator signature to make their request for an investigation official and actable. It is a mystery to me why NO SENATOR, not even the very liberal ones with (one hopes) nothing to fear, could bring himself/herself to sign it.

As an aside, does anyone have any clue as to why no senator would sign this, especially in light of the fact that the election was obviously skanky to a lot of knowledgeable people, like legal professors and the like?

Secondly, aware people DO know that Congresspeople do not read every word of every bill that they vote on. It would be physically impossible. However, their STAFFERS, often law students or lawyers, do read them for pitfalls, problems, tricky little riders, etc., and give the Congressperson a Reader's Digest version of every bill of consequence. The Patriot Act was a bill of consequence. Maybe Moore didn't make the point correctly -- but even the STAFFERS didn't have time to do their jobs, since the Patriot Act was essentially printed, distributed, and voted on in a 24-HOUR PERIOD.