(Via The Drudge Report)
I’m not fan of the misnamed “Patriot Act”. It was a knee-jerk reaction to 9/11, poorly thought out, poorly debated and overly broad and invasive. I know I’m not alone in that judgment.
238 members of the US House of Representatives agree with me, and have voted to trim back the Patriot Act a bit. From what I read, it isn’t much, but even a little bit is a good start.
Of course, the predictable cries from the less appetizing/dark and creepy parts of the Republican Party are occurring. I really like this:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told Congress in April that the government has never used the provision to obtain library, bookstore, medical or gun sale records.But when asked whether the administration would agree to exclude library and medical records from the law, Gonzales demurred. “It should not be held against us that we have exercised restraint,” he said.Authorities have gained access to records through voluntary cooperation from librarians, Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller said.
“Voluntary cooperation”, huh? I bet it was more along the lines of “You can either give them to us or we’ll take them.” And the part about “gun sale records” is really not doing the ol’ blood pressure any good.
Makes me proud to be a registered Republican, I’ll tell you that. Ahem.
The kicker is that apparently the President is threatening to veto the renewal if it trims the Patriot Act at all. Please! Veto it. We can let the whole stinking thing sunset and be done with it. Then we can all thank President Bush for doing the right thing for what I’ll bet are the wrong reasons.