DCrazy wrote:Good news from Washington, folks. 47 senators blocked renewal of the Patriot Act, and at the current rate it expires on 12/31. Here's to hoping it gets neutered over Christmas!
i'm sure most people are very happy to hear this, which makes me happy, because it shows that people are taking an interest.
So if this is so, then Merry Christmas America
Kilarin wrote:Keeping the government from peeking at what library books you've checked out, or from tapping your phone or reading your email is just as important.
From what I understand, the government can already do this in some cases (especially gang or mob related.) All the PATRIOT Act did is expanded the power to terrorism cases.
(Maybe I'm thinking of one of the other main provisions in the PATRIOT Act...)
The PATRIOT Act originally passed with wide, bipartisan support. The reason was because it had some very, very important provisions -- mostly of the form that said "the FBI, CIA, and police are now allowed to talk to each other." It also had a number of controversial provisions.
Now, during the recent set of renewals, most of the more controversial provisions have been neutered, nerfed, or pwn3d. During the renewal process, lawmakers created a number of more solid civil liberties protections. I won't bore you with a list; go read the thing if you care.
Think about what blocking the renewal really would have done... essentially, it would've destroyed many of the *least* controversial and *most* necessary information-sharing provisions, while doing nothing about the most controversial provisions. The renewal, on the other hand, preserves the most important provisions and neuters the stuff everybody gets mad about.
But, because the words "PATRIOT Act" are forever tainted in some people's minds, hearing some of the provisions got renewed will throw people into fits. Never mind that the renewal is vastly superior to the previous form...
