"Key provisions of the Patriot Act are to expire next year" and Bush was surprised by the applause

01/20/04

[Destro]

Did you all catch the moment?

During his third State of the Union speech President Bush said that "Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year," and was supirsed by the spontaneous applause!

Bush flushed for a second or two and then continued after a heart-skipping beat "The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens--you need to renew the Patriot Act." This elicited the larger if more canned applauses.

[Destro]

Bush keeps pronouncing "nuclear" as "new-color". :)

[alaskanfan]

If you don't like the Patriot Act then drop the PC bravo sierra and let us profile.

[sinkspur]

You're being silly.

[Destro]

What does the fact the he recovered have to do with your assertion that Bush set up the exchange? His features were telling.

[Naspino]

I agree with you. He paused after saying they were set to expire way longer than anywhere else in his speech except for the parts he wanted applause. That tells me that he got what he was waiting for -- the Dims to applaud -- they just did it timidly and right when he had given up waiting. When he said the next line he stared them down grinning.

[Destro]

I hate the Patriot Act. It is an abomination.

[Destro]

Humor is not sillyness. The president is a good natured man you should be one too.

[Naspino]

I hate the Patriot Act. It is an abomination

Which section specifically?

[Amadeo]

He didn't look stunned at all. Not for a second. The President did pause for effect (and applause as he had been doing all evening) then delivered yet another effective blow.

You didn't read his expression (or the meaning of it) correctly at all.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Exactly. The Democrats fell into the trap.

Never underestimate Bush... when will they ever learn?

[Dan from Michigan]

Well, since I liked his Tort Reform statement, I decided not to blast him in the live thread.

But the Patriot Act needs to expire, and I'm not the only republican that thinks that way.

[MissAmericanPie]

Bet this doesn't expire.

Bush signs parts of Patriot Act II into law - stealthily: "By signing the bill on the day of Hussein's capture, Bush effectively consigned a dramatic expansion of the USA Patriot Act to a mere footnote. Consequently, while most Americans watched as Hussein was probed for head lice, few were aware that the FBI had just obtained the power to probe their financial records, even if the feds don't suspect their involvement in crime or terrorism.

The Bush Administration and its Congressional allies tucked away these new executive powers in the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004, a legislative behemoth that funds all the intelligence activities of the federal government. The Act included a simple, yet insidious, redefinition of "financial institution," which previously referred to banks, but now includes stockbrokers, car dealerships, casinos, credit card companies, insurance agencies, jewelers, airlines, the U.S. Post Office, and any other business "whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax, or regulatory matters."

Congress passed the legislation around Thanksgiving. .. The Senate passed it with a voice vote to avoid individual accountability. [It] ramps up provisions within the 2001 USA Patriot Act, which granted the FBI the authority to obtain client records from banks by merely requesting the records in a "National Security Letter." To get the records, the FBI doesn't have to appear before a judge, nor demonstrate "probable cause" - reason to believe that the targeted client is involved in criminal or terrorist activity. Moreover, the National Security Letters are attached with a gag order, preventing any financial institution from informing its clients that their records have been surrendered to the FBI. If a financial institution breaches the gag order, it faces criminal penalties. And finally, the FBI will no longer be required to report to Congress how often they have used the National Security Letters."

Bloggers are making more noise about this hidden expansion of PATRIOT; let's see how long it takes for the mainstream media to criticize it.

[Prince Caspian]

Wouldn't say he appeared "stunned". That's a bit of a reach (I think you're revealing more about yourself than anyone else by that description). He appeared to be gathering himself in an attempt to maximize the effect of what he knew was contained in his next line.

[ThinkDifferent]

If you don't like the Patriot Act then drop the PC bravo sierra and let us profile.

Works for me.

[Destro]

You must be the only Republican! In fact I think you must be a money laundering terrorist to dare question legislation with the word patriot in it!

[Texasforever]

His features were telling.

Well I saw his features and he sure as hell was not surprised. Do you really think he and his staff would not have known what the reaction of the liberals would be given they have been harping on the PA for 2 years? Damn you are as easily deluded as your friends on the left. This was no ordinary SOTU speech. This was designed exclusively to embarrass the democrats and Bush did that at every turn from the war to taxes.

[Destro]

If "stunned" is to strong a descrprtion then how about he was "taken a-back" by the applause?

[luvbach1]

Would be nice, for one, if the Patriot Act was limited to "terrorism" - which it isn't now.

Somehow I don't fear the Patriot Act. I guess it's because: whatever it includes: it doesn't include me.

[Consort]

Bush won that very telling moment.

[Destro]

I envy your blind hero worship. I support Bush but I do not worship the ground he walks on and he supports several bad if not down right awful policies. He is better then a Democrat and he is the best we true conservatives can do for the moment, sadly.