The Patriot Act: A Can Of Worms
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. No way, Jose. A few weeks before the Patriot Act was set to expire, after a year on the shelf, Ron Paul spoke directly to his supporters and members of Campaign For Liberty in order to get everyone up to date on what’s the latest with the Patriot Act. “Last year (2010) the Patriot Act was scheduled to be renewed. There was a disagreement between the Senate and the House, and they didn’t extend it, but they agreed that this year they would do it.”
How are they going to get this act, passed under Bush, to be permanent without exposing that at the highest levels, the democrats and republicans are essentially in favor of making the Patriot Act permanent? Paul went on to express his feelings about the Patriot Act issue, “I think the scheme is they’re gonna pass it as quietly as possible.”
At the top of this pyramid there is bi-partisan support amongst the two party system. Aside from Republicans like Chuck Grassley, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Intelligence Committee Ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss, one of the ranking democrats, Senator Patrick Leahy apparently sees nothing wrong with the Patriot Act as a whole. Though it has been noted that this new legislation would “reform” and limit the government’s power to violate United States citizens rights, it seems Ron Paul is in the minority when expressing that the Patriot Act is “an absolute unconstitutional piece of legislation.”
I agree with Mr. Paul when he states that the Patriot Act “shouldn’t be extended, it shouldn’t be made worse, it actually should be repealed in its entirety and we’d all be better off for it.” Why does Paul see this as a “scheme” to pass this law quietly? “They’re not anxious to have open hearings. They’re not anxious to have a new debate. They consider that opening a can of worms.”
Chuck Grassley expressed why he feels the renewal of the Patriot Act has to be made permanently “Having this debate year after year offers little certainty to agents utilizing these provisions to keep the nation safe.” Yet there has been no evidence to prove that these provisions have kept the country safe. We need only look at the anthrax terrorism scare, the 7/7 bombings in London, among others. Grassley sounded like he wasn’t sure if the provisions were necessary, stating, “If these provisions are necessary, we should provide more certainty rather than simply revisiting the law year after year given the indefinite threat we face from acts of terrorism, and that looks like decades ahead. We should permanently reauthorize the three expiring provisions.” Well they’re not necessary Mr. Grassley. What planet are you living on?
“It’s a can of worms,” said Ron Paul, “that needs to be open because it affects all of us as Americans and all of us who believe in liberty, and believe in the rule of law, have to be concerned about the Patriot Act.”
In what seems like a last-ditch effort to make the Patriot Act permanent, Patrick Leahy is trying to rush this through the legislative process, minimizing any debates, with Grassley basically fear-mongering that we need the Patriot Act to protect those that are protecting the citizens of the United States. Leahy stated, “These are going to expire in a couple weeks so I would hope that all senators in both parties who have interest in that will meet with me and Sen. Grassley. None of us want to play politics on national security and we should get moving on this.” Aside from Ron Paul, who is addressing the constitutional aspect of this issue and why these protectors would need to be protected if they are indeed following the law? The Patriot Act only serves to make things that are illegal appear to be legal. Still, any law that violates the Constitution of the United States is an illegal and unconstitutional law.
Though Paul recognizes that “individual liberty ought to be protected,” he doesn’t necessarily let the people of this country off the hook either. This is especially true when you consider that a lot of people vote along party lines, instead of looking at who voted for the Patriot Act and why no one should vote for a congressional representative or senator who does so. Why would I ever vote for someone who thinks the Patriot Act is good for America? If congressmen knew that they would lose an election if they voted for the Patriot Act it may put pressure on them to do the will of their constituents. Yet they realize that most people aren’t paying attention to what is happening on Capitol Hill, so they have essentially sold out their morals and belief systems for the cheese that the shadow global elite dangle over their heads.
The rat takes the cheese…
…the rat takes the cheese.
According to Paul, the Patriot Act “is a perfect example of how, we, as individuals and Americans, have been willing to sacrifice their liberty for so-called security.”
http://www.infowars.com/republicans-move-to-make-patriot-act-permanent/
