Senate Fails To Reauthorize Patriot Act Provisions

PostConsumerRecycled writes "CNN is reporting that 'The Senate on Friday rejected attempts to reauthorize several provisions of the USA Patriot Act as infringing too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders ... If a compromise is not reached, the 16 Patriot Act provisions expire on December 31.' The story also links to listing of the provisions that will expire."

Comments

Re:*sigh* done with filibuster threats

[fireduck]

Regardless of whether the point is to target terrorists, there needs to be some check on the powers. In an unchecked society, we kidnap people off the streets in Germany, rendite (?) them to Afghanistan for several months, where we torture them and then realize it was all a case of mistaken identity, so we drop them off in Albania. The DOD starts keeping tabs on anti-war protestors. The President starts writing executive orders which allow the NSA to spy on American citizens. The "no torture" bill that passes is great, until the military decides to re-write the army field manual and then classify it, so we can't even say what torture is.

All in the name of protecting us from "terrorists"

Re:A light in the darkness.

[kypper]

The Diebold on Ohio, Bush skipping out on Vietnam and Karl Rove leaking Valery Plame were spun to sound utterly fake as well. Funny thing about them... the evidence started appearing long after the articles were written.

I doubt he was 100% serious, but I wouldn't put it past him to state it.

Re:It's Too Bad...

[s20451]

Let's not forget that the US government had ample opportunity to stop the Sept 11 attacks even without the PATRIOT act. They failed thanks to ossified bureaucracy, not a lack of police powers.

And it is quite possible to plan a large-scale attack on Americans without setting foot in the United States (for example, this). But thanks to a stubbornly unilateral foreign policy, the United States has trouble getting the international cooperation it needs to protect its citizens.

Thirty years from now, the current administration will be a textbook example of how not to conduct a campaign against terrorism.

Re:Yes we do deserve to win.

[laughingcoyote]

Please refer me to the portion of the National Security Letter provision that requires a judge's authorization before one is issued.

Re:Frist quote

[Anonymous Brave Guy]

I prefer the UK version of this one. Courtesy of the Guardian:

The law lords' judgment was so damning of the anti-terror legislation that one of the panel, Lord Hoffman, went as far as saying: "The real threat to the life of the nation, in the sense of people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but from laws like these."