"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.

[TheDon]

I thought that was a great moment too. The Demorats fell into the trap. It was great!

[TheDon]

Had to be a setup, it worked too well. They knew the Demorats would fall for it. If not, the Demorats ended up with egg on their faces anyway.

[JennysCool]

Yow...He had you as set up as he did the Demos!

[TheDon]

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?

Exactly. Some folks here been listening to the media for too long talking about how stupid President Bush and team are.

[Mo1]

The actions by the Dems tonight were an Absolute Disgrace

I don't except them to clap and cheer at everything the President said

But it was OBVIOUS .. their Party is more important the the Lives of the American People

[Stupendous_man]

Bush has proven to be an artist when it comes to setting up the Democrats, and they keep falling for it every time.

[Texasforever]

Lawyers have a rule to never ask a question you don't already know the answer to. This speech was big league politics at its toughest. It was probably the most political speech I have seen Bush give to date.

[alaskanfan]

I had an interesting discussion with a co-worker recently, she said that she would always vote democrat because the democrats were for the workers.

I asked her to name one policy of democrats that would indicate that they supported the wage earners of our country.

(Insert cricket sound)

She was fired the next day for failing a drug screening test.

[MissAmericanPie]

I was born outside the box.

[TheDon]

I think you are right on that score. It must be an election year or something...

[Howlin]

Bush looked too stunned for you to pass it off as a set up.

In your dreams.

[Mo1]

(Insert cricket sound)

*L* .. Yea I've heard that sound from my dem friends

But my favorite is the light bulb just went on look

IMO .. they (my friends) would rather spend their time trying to prove me wrong than see what is right smack in front of their face

[alaskanfan]

Funny thing was that she couldn't tell me what X42 had done to make the economy so vibrant during his term.

Her reply was "You're to smart for me."

But she still votes for the rats simply because she knows they are for the worker.

[Mo1]

But she still votes for the rats simply because she knows they are for the worker.

Those people scare me .. because the don't have a clue

[alaskanfan]

I have no answer but to confront this ignorance on a one by one basis.

Obviously these people are to stupid to understand the written language.

[ThePythonicCow]

Had to be a setup, it worked too well.

But ... but ... can the 'Rats be that dumb?

I mean ... as soon as he spoke the first line, about the Patriot Act being set to expire, I immediately started anticipating the followup, about terrorism not expiring. It was like so-o-o obvious (picture old man trying to immitate a Valley Girl here ...).

Surely the 'Rats could see that one coming from way back.

[Commie Basher]

My gosh, surprised? Hell that set-up was the best I have ever seen. Nice try though.

NY talk radio was abuzz about the egg on Bush's face, so it was a very nice try indeed.

[steve-b]

Unfortunately for Bush, too many Republicans recognize the "patriot" Act for what it is (the Clinton-era wish list dusted off and used as a cover for the FBI's pre-9/11 incompetence). He ought to have cut his losses by distancing himself from the whole mess.

[LibertarianInExile]

The Patriot Act allows the FBI to collect library records as well as Web-surfing habits, medical history, business, financial and employment records, and even genetic information, and then to gag parties who are forced to give up those records, such as librarians, to prevent them from disclosing when the government has requested information. What rights does that mean you give up? Only the ones that technology and the government have afforded you already. Does that mean you lose rights guaranteed by the Constitution? Probably not, but the question is do you only want to protect the enumerated liberties of the Bill of Rights or do you believe as the founders did that there were more rights that we are God-given as human beings? A right to privacy means to many of us more than abortion.

In addition, sneak-and-peek searches allow the gummint to come into your home, search your personal effects, download information from your computer and not tell you until after the fact. The law states that notice must be provided within 'a reasonable time frame,' but who knows when that will be?

It may be true that there will be lots of bad guys who can be caught by this. But there is an awful lot of power granted to the feds by the Patriot Act, too, and any powers that could one day be in the hands of Hillary Clinton, FBI Director, make me nervous.

[Redleg Duke]

Frankly, Destro, I believe that was one of GWs best-laid booby traps. He wasn't surprised, except for the pleasant surprise one enjoys when one realizes your ambush is going to work better than you hoped.