Four more years! (Of the Patriot Act ...)

[MNBrewer]

"On Thursday, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders agreed to a deal to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act for four years, a significant decision that generated little press attention or sustained political debate.

Certain sections of the Patriot Act, which originally passed Congress a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks with near-unanimous support, have long been criticized by civil libertarians in both political parties.

But the Obama administration and its allies on Capitol Hill have been eager to renew about-to-expire provisions that expanded domestic intelligence collection and wiretapping powers. As the AP put it, "The idea is to pass the extension with as little debate as possible to avoid a protracted and familiar argument over the expanded power the law gives to the government." A vote is expected within several days."

<http://www.salon.com/news/politics/fbi/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/21/patriot_act_extended>

[KoKo]

1. If Bush was still in there or McCain was there...folks would care...but

not anymore. Which is very strange.

[treestar]

2. I care but I'd like more specifics

As I recall the Patriot Act was long and so it might not all have been offensive. So the three provisions they are renewing should be considered, rather than just saying "Patriot Act" and assuming they must all be bad provisions.

And anyone aggrieved by it can challenge it in court. Republicans would by now have two more Scalias on the court, and added no-judicial review provisions.

[jberryhill]

3. Parts of the Patriot Act were judicially rendered moot, other parts expired

What I find interesting is that of the remaining bits and pieces, I have not seen any specific issues raised.

What is effective in these situations is to put a face on the problem. A list of persons convicted and jailed would be helpful.

[bahrbearian]

4. Hey, we still got Gitmo too. Go figure.