While I’m glad the Right has decided to pay attention to this for a change, unless they can prove the Executive is breaking the law, then their ire should be directed where it belongs – at Congress. After all, give anyone a power, and you can be sure they’ll use it. The GOP gave it to Bush pretty much unconditionally. You think a new president is gonna want to give it up once he gets into office and sees how things really work, no matter what campaign pledges they made?
It seems to me the problem here is not “oversight” or recording private communications. The problem is a large set of American people succumbing to fear propagated by a sleazy corporatocracy keeping their constituents minds off their real needs and progress.
For years now, congress has been cowardly unburdening itself of politically difficult responsibilities, like security and war, by shifting power to the executive. They do this with vague legislation, like undefined, undeclared war. Basically, after 911, the congress gave the White House carte blanche war powers to fight what is essentially a quasi-organized international criminal movement. We didn’t need one single solitary new law to deal with that. Now we have the foundation of a police super-state.
Meanwhile, the very Right Wing that instigated all this, from the Cold War to today, hides behind a professed surprise that this is suddenly happening. Ya’ just can’t win with that crowd.
While I’m glad the Right has decided to pay attention to this for a change, unless they can prove the Executive is breaking the law, then their ire should be directed where it belongs – at Congress. After all, give anyone a power, and you can be sure they’ll use it. The GOP gave it to Bush pretty much unconditionally. You think a new president is gonna want to give it up once he gets into office and sees how things really work, no matter what campaign pledges they made?
It seems to me the problem here is not “oversight” or recording private communications. The problem is a large set of American people succumbing to fear propagated by a sleazy corporatocracy keeping their constituents minds off their real needs and progress.
For years now, congress has been cowardly unburdening itself of politically difficult responsibilities, like security and war, by shifting power to the executive. They do this with vague legislation, like undefined, undeclared war. Basically, after 911, the congress gave the White House carte blanche war powers to fight what is essentially a quasi-organized international criminal movement. We didn’t need one single solitary new law to deal with that. Now we have the foundation of a police super-state.
Meanwhile, the very Right Wing that instigated all this, from the Cold War to today, hides behind a professed surprise that this is suddenly happening. Ya’ just can’t win with that crowd.
@This one:
Obama could have let the Patriot Act die. He did not. He renewed it.
Enough with “Well, Bush…”