BobHarris.com - "Unilateral disarmament" and the continuing Dada War On Tara

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Who Hates Whom:
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"Unilateral disarmament" and the continuing Dada War On Tara

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Wednesday, 06 April 2005

Attorney General Waterboard just equated reining in the more onerous provisions of the so-called Patriot Act with "unilateral disarmament" in the War On Tara.

If we take Gonzales at his word, apparently all those guys getting their asses blown off aren't actually accomplishing anything.

But maybe he's telling the truth. Maybe we really, really need the Patriot Act. Maybe it really isn't being abused. So why won't Gonzales give our elected representatives proof? If it was doing that much good, you'd think Team Chimpy would be trumpeting even the slightest victory to the mountaintops. Why are Senators from both parties complaining that the evidence just isn't there?

"We have heard over and over again that there have been no abuses as a result of the Patriot Act," Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said during a hearing Tuesday. "But it is difficult, if not impossible, to verify that claim when some of the most controversial surveillance powers in the Patriot Act operate under a cloak of secrecy."

-- snip --

An analysis (PDF file) released by Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, last month said: "Requests to the Department of Justice to provide a comprehensive report assessing the effect and efficacy of the 16 provisions of the Patriot Act subject to 'sunset' remain unfulfilled. Such a report is a critical element in [Congress'] responsibility to provide meaningful oversight before determining whether to change the law with respect to these provisions."

Remember, nobody's talking about rolling back the whole act. This is just a debate about the 16 sections of the dictionary-sized behemoth which were so over-the-top that they were given hard-wired expirations, even during the post-9/11 frenzy of fear.

To give you an idea, the fourth-amendment-abolishing chunk of the law allowing the federal government not only to enter your home, but to do so without notifying you, possibly ever, regarding any alleged felony if they deem it important enough... that part is permanent:

Even though the Patriot Act was enacted as a response to the threat of terrorism, Section 213's powers are not limited to investigations of terrorists or spies. Instead, sneak-and-peak searches may be used to investigate any federal felony or misdemeanor, from firearms violations to marijuana possession and copyright infringement.

But of course, people from political persuasions of every stripe who can see how this dangerous standard is contrary to the entire spirit of the Bill of Rights... why, they all just hate this country.

Ceci n'est pas une America.