POLITICS: Senate Approves Renewal of Patriot Act

The Patriot Act has been renewed by a vote of 89-to-10. President Bush has called the Patriot Act a vital part of the war on terror and applauded Congress for their support of the measure. All of the opposing votes came from Democrats who are concerned that the bill doesn't do enough to protect civil liberties.



This was not really a surprise. Most of those in Congress understand the stakes and realize that there is a balance that must be struck during these dire times between civil liberties and effective law enforcement measures against terrorism. For myself, I'm comfortable with the Patriot Act, but then again, I don't engage in suspicious behavior and even if I did, I'd understand that the greater good is more important than my personal opinions. I believe that our Constitution is strong and the will of the people is robust and that in the end, liberty will always call America home.


[edit on 2006/3/2 by GradyPhilpott]

Odd. The dreaded, evil Patriot Act passes and there is not a single comment.

I would like to correct one error in my opening paragraph. One of the opposing votes came from James Jeffords, an independent from Vermont.

Click the photo for more recent pictures of Senator Jeffords.

Others who voted against the act are listed here. Sorry, no photos.

Senators voting against the bill today, besides Mr. Feingold and Mr. Jeffords, were Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, Carl Levin of Michigan, Patty Murray of Washington and Ron Wyden of Oregon. (Senator Daniel Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, did not vote.)

New York Times

[edit on 2006/3/3 by GradyPhilpott]

first id like to state the fact im surprised at the lack of responses for this article. this is an important topic and im surprised its not getting the proper response.

now as for the article, i am disappointed that the patriot act was renewed. i simply dont believe this is doing enough to combat the war on terror. we should end this war on terror and work more toward securing our boarders and ports. every possible way a threat can get in is where our security should be the strongest. this seems to be the overall problem. we are going about fighting domestic threats totally wrong. i dont have much a problem with them monitering forigen calls or emails. nor do i have much a problem with them monitering a person who has recently immigrated here.

what i do have a problem with is boarder control, our port security, our lack of intelligence and response in situations that could endanger us. i dont mean like some guy found a bomb. i mean the fact boarder control is a total failure. their war on terror seems to have failed as i would have thought, because its impossible to beat terrorist, only to sucessfully guard against them coming in. something we cant even do because we are trying to beat them. yea no major terrorist attack has happened on US soil since 9/11, but how many attacks happened on US soil between the first trade center bombing and 9/11?

on a personal note grady, your opinion in the opening post sounds like something that came right out of the mouth of george bush. just letting you know. "our constitution is strong..." that pretty much had me laughing because i could actually see bush saying that word for word, with his pauses of course (because his lack of ability to speak publically)

I am not surprised that the Act was renewed. Why should we respond about an act that is going to be renewed for years to come... It wil make governing the USA so much easier for future presidents, if there are any other than Mr. Bush.

Until the War on Terror is over the Act will remain in effect. Who knows when the "War" will be declared over. The next step is to actually declare war on their own citizens as "Terrorists" -- I wish I was joking

Actually Grady, I am very interested in this, and have been searching for a more in depth analysis of which provisions were ammended, and to what extent. As I understand it, 14 provisions are in place permanently now, with another couple of others up for renewal in about 9 years. Any further info you could shed on this would be appreciated, although it may be a bit soon for any real detail to appear. And this bill still has to pass the House next week, but all indications are that it will pass.

Originally posted by grimreaper797
...your opinion in the opening post sounds like something that came right out of the mouth of george bush.

Our Constitution is strong and the will of the people is robust. Bush isn't the best public speaker and because he has to beat the same drum so often, these truths become cliché, but they are no less true. I realized when I wrote those words that they would sound hackneyed and, no doubt, my analysis is the reason that I got no:bias vote and no one has responded to this very important news.

Had I taken the more popular stance that the Patriot Act is the root of all evil and that surely the republic will fall within hours of its passage, then I could have expected a chorus of "hear, hears." Such is not my way, however. I prefer to speak my mind and my heart and suffer the consequences.

It's not that I don't care, it's just that this is the first time I saw this. What are we supposed to say? "Darn"! ? It's all been said.

For once Bingaman does something right! It's about time!

Grady, I disagree with you 100%, but I hope I'm wrong and you're right.

Come down off that cross Grady, or make room for me.

I had a story the other week about the Pentagon releasing the Gitmo names, and I think it's got about half a dozen replies, but not enough votes to upgrade. What can ya do?

I wasn't at all surprised about the Patriot Act being continued. There's hardly anything our government could do at this point that would surprise me, short of eating babies raw on national television. Most people are resigned, I think, at this point, to having a government perpetually filled to bursting with greedy, photogenic idiots.

It's all such a ridiculous farce, how can you blame them?

[sarcasm]
Like, what, our politicians lie to us and pass laws without thinking of the common good, and misappropriate money for corporate buddies, no way! My poor heart can't take the shock! I'm just so very, very surprised.
[/sarcasm]

Maybe someone frozen in the fifties would be surprised at this crap, but those of us who've been alive and awake and paying attention sure as Hell aren't.

im just telling you grady tthat you almost definately got the no:bias vote for the last line.

had you stopped at "for the greater good." i think that that vote would have no ground what so ever. but its your opinion to state. i just think that last line was like straight out of the pro bush agenda. it just sounded so...i dont know how to put it exactly, i want to say cheezy. it just comes off as like lets be real, this doesnt strengthen liberty or the constitution at all. the fact that these have become perminate i see is totally uncalled for.

personal note: the no for bias vote really doesnt have any ground because hes allowed to state opinion, no matter how incredibly pro bush/pro government it sounds.

I do wish that voters would understand that bias is what the analysis secton is for and that bias is not allowed in the introduction, but what the hey. As for that last line, I just love it and it is all mine. I might just have it copyrighted and try to sell it to the adminstration.

o.p. by Grady Philpott
I don't engage in suspicious behavior and even if I did, I'd understand that the greater good is more important than my personal opinions

The issue I have with the Patriot Act and the prosecution of the WOT against American citizens is it doesn't take suspicious behavior, and it is exactly your personal opinions that can get you in trouble, no matter what the Constitution of the United States of America says about free speech, and the right to assembly. The safe route is to parrot the party line and sig heil your way through.

It also serves as a great tool to keep the party in power in power indefinitely. That's what concerns me about it, its too easily twisted to suit the designs of the few that seek to control the many.

Oh, and by the way, it doesn't seem to be working that well anyway, with the latest news always proclaiming a WMD attack on home soil is Highly Likely. When was the last time that stupid color coded alert thing was green or blue? Never, and it never will be.

Just got home and saw the news headlines about this, then went straight to ATS to see who had posted the article--if anyone.

Glad to see you posted this article and put a positive rather than a negative flavor on it. I agree with your opinion 100%. Had you posted this with a negative spin on it I'll bet this thread would already have 100-200 replies. Freedom is still very much alive and well in America despite the negative opinions often seen posted on ATS.

[edit on 3-3-2006 by Astronomer68]

lol bush would personally shake your hand, another thing he can say "is strong", followed right by our troops, our unity, and our economy(HAHAHAHA).

but yea the color code will never reach lows, it will always be "watch out your neighbor youve known forever could become part of the jihad and blow himself up! watch out for everyone!!!"

its not the patriot act that bothers me, its that the government is in control of it lol. come on, does anyone seriously trust the government with power these days? just turn on the news for a week and youll see what im saying. corruption corruption corruption.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
Most people are resigned, I think, at this point, to having a government perpetually filled to bursting with greedy, photogenic idiots.

I'm not going to challenge your other assertions, but I'm wondering who these photogenic people might be. GW? Dick? Condi? Rummy?




[edit on 2006/3/3 by GradyPhilpott]

Grady, the Patriot Act came about with the intention to fight terrorism after 9/11/01, as we all know, amidst screams of it's potential for abuse. So when it passed despite all that, the best we could do was sit back and hope that the government would use its newfound powers wisely, and with good judgement. Yeah right, like that has happened? NOT.

One only need look at the multitude of documented cases of Patriot Act abuse, concerning cases that had nothing to friggin do with terrorism. I remember a period on ATS itself when many threads got posted about such cases, but to no avail. There is a case right now up on the boards about some guy who made a bigger payment on his credit card, only to alert the DHS. 10 years ago, you could have made any payment you wanted to your credit card, no big deal. But now everyone is being scrutinized like little kids, and yeah we ARE being watched by Big Brother, whether you like it or not.

Here's a few examples of Patriot Act abuse cases at this link:
www.aclu.org...

Read through that and tell me those cases are crap. They are not, and it's just the tip of the iceberg. And the biggest thing that still bothers me is the secrecy issue. The government has been given completely free reign in essense to keep any information they want secret under the veil of "national security." Who really knows how many more cases are up there behind a now "lawful" lock and key?

I don't know bout you Grady, but to me that is NOT freedom. That is NOT the American way. That is NOT honest. That is NOT the government being held accountable with full disclosure. That is everything and worse that the people like Alex Jones have been screaming about for years. Tyranny man, tyranny. You just don't wanna face it man. You wanna stay wrapped up in putting your blind faith in the government. Those days are over Grady. They've got us by the balls, and the refusal of people like you to recognize it will be the demise of this great country, so help me God.

I know it's easy to stereotype me as a blind old fool who can't see what's going on in this country, but do try to remember that I can remember quite vividly most of the last 50 years. That would be since about 1955. I remember Kennedy being elected to office and his assassination. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. I lived through the Cold War, the sexual revolution, women's liberation, the sixties, the civil rights movement, the space race, Chicago, Watergate, the Ford assassination attempts, the Iran hostage crisis, the Reagan assassination attempt, Iran-Contra, the Gulf War, the first World Trade Center attack, Monica, and the current crisis. I served in Vietnam. I voted for George McGovern and Bill Clinton.

I remember when society was polite and people dressed appropriately and didn't swear in front of women and children. I remember before drug abuse was rampant and when the schools were not overrun with marxist militants and drug abusers. I remember when births out of wedlock were almost unheard of and divorce was rare and abortion was unspeakable. I remember when you could buy a gun from the Sears and Roebuck catalog and I remember when shootings were almost as rare as divorce. I remember when people never locked their cars or their homes. I remember when I used to leave my bike in the yard overnight. I remember getting up at 5am and riding my bike across town to throw my paper route and never worrying about my safety.

I know very well that government will take every advantage that it can and that is why I am a Benefactor Member of the National Rifle Association and why I write to my political leaders and I vote.

One thing time has taught me, though, is that in America, government does not gain power the public does not allow it, either by consent or by inducing social problems that require government intervention and even then, it usually by public consent. The Gun Control Act of 1968 is a good example. The Brady Act and the Assault Weapons Ban would be two others that I have seen in my day.

Today, we are at war and the threat to the American public is greater than it has been in my lifetime. Even during the Cuban Missile Crisis and all through the Cold War, the threat to our homeland was not as great as it is now. The USSR didn't want a nuclear conflagration any more than we did and preferred to expand it's influence through small wars and revolutions, like Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

Somehow, when I balance the Patriot Act with all the things I have seen in my life and with the threat that Islamic terrorism presents, it is the lesser of evils. I am in control here in the America we now have, even if my voice is only one out of two hundred million. The alternatives don't seems too good to me, so I think I'll grant the government the tools to do its most important job, which I think are quite well enumerated in the Preamble to the Constitution.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

[edit on 2006/3/3 by GradyPhilpott]

Yes, but thats the thing, you are from a totally different generation. in my generation its urgent we dont let such things happen now because later, it will definately be too late. our society is falling apart pretty much in my generation. most are as ignorant as the kids who are in middle school and some elementary school as far as what all this political stuff means. this means that right now sure, they cant take away too much from us because there are too many people who will speak out. unfortunately that isnt the same for my generation. they are way more sucked into the MTV and videogame world to even realize whats going on.

scary part is that most of them actually get offensive if your try to talk to them at all about politics or whats going on in the world because they prefer being lied to. this generation holds almost NO individuality. thats what they are being taught. this of course has been done through baby steps. its moving along at a pace which we cant even measure, but it is moving make no mistake. only the most aware of people see that every action they are taking is just another baby step to the real goal. it might not even happen in my lifetime, i mean it didnt happen for the past 200 years, but they have been making there way toward whatever their goal is for quite some time. they are doing it through the decay of society. controlling the masses by propaganda and a sense of neo-fascism.

my guess is that by the time my generation is your age the government will be a dictators with people believing they are free in democracy.

Originally posted by grimreaper797
Yes, but thats the thing, you are from a totally different generation. in my generation its urgent we dont let such things happen now because later, it will definately be too late. our society is falling apart pretty much in my generation.

Well, I'd like to point out that even though I am "from" a different generation and even though I have lived in times that you have not, we are currently sharing the same time, the same space, the same atmosphere, the same situation. I would implore you to remain ever vigilant of tyranny, but please don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

Liberty requires a delicate balance of defending against enemies both foreign and domestic. I know Bush seems like an evil guy, but trust me. I've seen evil in my day and Bush doesn't even measure up in that regard. Bush wants a free America, but he doesn't want another 9/11, especially on his watch and I don't either.

Just for one moment put yourself in his position. For most of his life, GW has been involved in politics and finally he makes it to the Presidency and 3000 Americans die in a matter of a few hours in an attack on the most visible and important symbols of our nation and not only symbols, the WTC, the Pentagon and whatever site the other flight was destined to hit, the White House or the Congress, were and are the engines of our nation.

Let's think about Clinton for a moment. For most of his life, Bill had been involved in politics and finally he made it to the Presidency and the symbol and an engine of the American economy is bombed. What did the government do? They put "Santa Claus" on trial and sent him to jail. Oh and let's not forget about the most inane piece of legislation in American history, the Assault Weapons Ban which accomplished nothing except to limit Second Amendment rights. Oh, and let's not forget that Clinton signed into law an act that makes a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction sufficient to deny a citizen his Second Amendment rights.

Now, I don't know about you, but somehow the Patriot Act is not seeming so evil. Maybe we don't want it in perpetuity, but for the time being and under the current circumstances, the Patriot Act and a house full of guns and ammo sound a lot better than what some others have had to offer.

Mind the Second Amendment and the others will take care of themselves.


[edit on 2006/3/3 by GradyPhilpott]

hahahaha the USA is screwed. The next emergency will have martial law declared and Bush will be President for life till Cheney has him shot from the grassy knoll and takes over...

Oh man you have been got at hook line and sinker with this 'terror' bill.

Wave goodbye to freedom and say hello to tyranny!

And where do you reside MadGreebo? Would it be a land where the only people allowed to carry guns are the government? Would it be perhaps a land where knives are being outlawed? I think you'd be better off tending to your side of the ocean.