The Path That the Patriot Act Paved

The New American ^ | 11 June 2013 | Jack Kerwick, Ph.D.

[VitacoreVision]

Those who once defended the Patriot Act are shocked that it has been abused by Obama; they should’ve realized the act itself is a standing abuse.

The Path That the Patriot Act Paved

The New American
11 June 2013

Regardless of how it is constituted, whether it is "democratic" or otherwise, no government poses a larger threat to liberty than a government that is at war.

War is the mother of all crises and, as Rahm Emmanuel memorably -- and rightly -- said, crises are pregnant with opportunities for politicians and activists that they otherwise wouldn't have. It is in moments of crisis, real or imagined, that government has its best opportunity to accumulate ever greater concentrations of power, for it is during crises that the people expect their government to assert itself in ways that wouldn't ordinarily be tolerated.

Yet today's self-avowed "conservatives" advocate on behalf of not just war, but war without end, for "Islamic terror" is an amorphous container into which any number of contents can be inserted.

Interminable war means, necessarily, the interminable growth of government.

And where the expansion of government is interminable, so too is the diminution of liberty.

Matters can't be otherwise, which is why it is at once exasperating and laughable that the very same people who indefatigably defended the so-called "Patriot Act" now act shocked that it has been abused by the Obama administration. If they had an iota of wisdom, they would have recognized way back when that the Patriot Act itself is a standing abuse.

Instead, one of its authors, Republican Jim Sensenbrenner, maintains that he is "extremely disturbed by what appears to be an overbroad interpretation" of the law he crafted. In a letter to Eric Holder, Sensenbrenner asserts that while he is confident that the Patriot Act "appropriately balanced national security concerns and civil rights," he nevertheless "always worried about potential abuses."

There are four things of which to take note here.

First, whether "what appears to be an overbroad interpretation" coincides with reality is left to be seen. The fact of the matter is that, overbroad or not, at issue is an interpretation of the Patriot Act. The latter lends itself to precisely this kind of interpretation -- as its critics noted back at the time of its birth.

Second, Sensenbrenner actually admits, albeit inadvertently, that in drafting the Patriot Act, he felt the need to achieve a "balance" or compromise between "civil rights" -- i.e. constitutional liberties -- and "national security concerns" -- i.e. greater government power. To put it more bluntly, he concedes that the Patriot Act required trading off some of the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution in exchange for granting the government an even greater scope than it already possessed.

Third, although he says now that he "always" had concerns about "potential abuses," Sensenbrenner was quite dismissive of critics who have expressed these same concerns.

In 2006, he said that not only did the Patriot Act have a "stellar record" of being abuse-free, but "congressional negotiators added more than 30 civil liberty safeguards not included in current law to ensure that [its] authorities would not be abused in the future." Sensenbrenner was indignant as he concluded that this is "still not enough for some."

As even he now recognizes, it was for good reason that his assurances were "not enough for some."

Finally, legislation is just that. It is no more potent than the ink and paper of which it consists. Real conservatives, and real statesmen, have always known that the true laws and "constitution" of a people are embodied in their habits and traditions. Legislation should distill this shared experience -- and vindicate it.

Furthermore, paper laws, like paper constitutions, are all too susceptible to the predations of the power-hungry.

But Republican Sensenbrenner continues — along with several of his fellow partisans -- to defend the Patriot Act and the entire NSA surveillance program. Take George W. Bush's former speech writer and Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen. "Signal intelligence," Thiessen says, is the only feasible and effective way to "protect the country." Upon reminding us that "the programs exposed in these leaks did not begin on Barack Obama's watch," Thiessen declares that the current president's continuation of "Bush-era counterterrorism policy... is not an outrage -- it is a victory.”

That Obama is building upon Bush's already massive surveillance program may very well be a "victory."

But it is a victory for the champions of Gargantuan Government -- not the lovers of liberty.

[no-to-illegals]

Good Read ... remember at the time asking my congressperson to follow congressperson’s Jim Sensenbrenner lead. In about one year after passage ... knew I was wrong.

[no-to-illegals]

my wrongness is documented here at this site somewhere. Could find it but What Difference Does It Make? Too long ago ... and hillary will never be queen. uh oh.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Perfectly written essay.

If only laws were so perfectly written and properly followed.

[South40]

I never care for the PA and I certainly never defended it. It was part of the reason why after 30+ years as a Republican I registered as an Independent. That, and the fact that Bush ran as a conservative and governed like a liberal.

[loveliberty2]

Thoughts worth considering:

"Although all men are born free, and all nations might be so, yet too true it is, that slavery has been the general lot of the human race. Ignorant – they have been cheated; asleep – they have been surprised; divided – the yoke has been forced upon them. But what is the lesson?... The people ought to be enlightened, to be awakened, to be united, that after establishing a government they should watch over it." - James Madison

"A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people." - James Madison

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison

"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea."

"Posterity! you will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it." - John Adams, Letter to Abigail Adams, 1777

"[Our Departed Ancestors] task (and nobly they performed it) [was] to possess themselves, and through themselves, us, of this goodly land; and to uprear upon its hills and its valleys, a political edifice of liberty and equal rights; 'tis ours only, to transmit these, the former, unprofaned by the foot of an invader; the latter, undecayed by the lapse of time and untorn by usurpation, to the latest generation that fate shall permit the world to know. This task of gratitude to our fathers, justice to ourselves, duty to posterity, and love for our species in general, all imperatively require us faithfully to perform. How then shall we perform it? At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!--All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide." - Abraham Lincoln, January 27, 1838

"An enlightened people, and an energetic public opinion... will control and enchain the aristocratic spirit of the government." --Thomas Jefferson to Chevalier de Ouis, 1814. ME 14:130

[MichaelCorleone]

I thought we weren’t supposed to discuss how Bush set the stage for 0 to put the final touches on tyranny in America. The operative excuse is that GWB ‘never dreamed’ the Patriot Act, creation of DHS, Federalizing the TSA workers, and others, would be abused by a future rogue administrations.

[MHGinTN]

Have you by some chance seen Aaron Russo's Freedom To Fascism (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNNeVu8wUak).

Our demise as a We The People Constitutional Republic can actually be traced to its beginning in 1913, with establishment of the private banking cabal euphemistically called The Federal Reserve.

By the government handing our money creation into the hands of these private bankers, we started the cascade which now includes things like The Patriot Act and numerous executive Order abuses by presidents from both political sides.

There is a very credible argument that can be made that Lincoln and Kennedy were assassinated because they wanted to have the government creating our money. Kennedy went so far as to have new bills being printed which closed off the federal reserve from issuing our money, had he succeeded.

[bigheadfred]

bush was a has been before he got elected and nothing changed that after

[MHGinTN]

BTW, if you go to the link and to the 1hr 35 minute mark, you will see that old devil Rockefeller admitting he and a select few have been building their new world order which is about to be completed. He thanks the media (verminous scum) for keeping the reality hidden while the construction has been on going.

[gleeaikin]

Person of Interest becomes more scary as I see what the government does. Now I have seen the new documentary movie Dirty Wars which specifically pinpoints JSOC as a super secret special forces to do government ops. When I Googled JSOC, I found references to how Rumsfeld and Cheney were intimately involved. I guess Bush went along for the ride which Obama has continued.

[no-to-illegals]

Was thinking of you just the other evening and was missing your pings. You hit me with a good one this time ... LOL

[no-to-illegals]

JSOC ... instituted originally as a Hostage Rescue Team in 1980 ... transformed dramatically since their inception.

[no-to-illegals]

a fwiw post ... http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/06/04/jsoc-and-the-shadow-war-on-terror/

[gleeaikin]

By all means Google JSOC and see Dirty Wars if you can.

[no-to-illegals]

did ... and back again.

[Graewoulf]

Be careful what we put into Law - - - - .

[no-to-illegals]

may I ask a question gleeaikin ... involves NSA ... How much research have you done down this alley? Think Snowden is guilty of giving out secrets more than our D.C. leakers? Just wonder where your research has led, if have been down that alley. No need to reply if have not gone down that path.

[Wellington VII]

Back in 2001 in the aftermath of 9/11 we could not have imagined having a president like Obama, a president who would utilize the powers granted to George W. Bush by the Patriot Act to protect us from terror. If we knew, those powers granted to the president would have been much more limited in scope and only for the duration of several years.

[FreeInWV]

Myself and many others pointed that out here. Some neocons swore it was necessary to our very survival and that we would always have republican presidents. Idiots....