Posted on 12/16/2005 10:35:41 PM PST by smoothsailing
The Senate's pre-9/11 mindset
Published December 17, 2005
"God forbid that there be a terrorist attack that could have been prevented by the Patriot Act after it has expired," Sen. Jon Kyl said yesterday after the Senate failed to overcome a filibuster of legislation that would have reauthorized the Patriot Act. "If that happens, those who have supported the filibuster will have to answer for it, and the American people will have a very hard time understanding what their objections were."
Got that, Sens. Larry Craig, Chuck Hagel, Lisa Murkowski and John Sununu? As the four Republicans who voted to continue the filibuster, they now bear the unenviable task of defending their vote. Conveniently, none of them is up for re-election in 2006. Democrats predictably voted en masse in favor of the filibuster, with the exception of Sens. Tim Johnson and Ben Nelson, who we applaud for bucking their party's unfounded Patriot Act paranoia. So, unless Majority Leader Bill Frist -- who had to vote for the filibuster as a matter of Senate procedure -- can pull a Christmas miracle, valuable provisions in the Patriot Act will expire Dec. 31.
Along with the Feckless Four, we also have to throw in the New York Times, which ran a front-page article yesterday -- conveniently in time for the filibuster vote -- blaring the headline, "Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Court Orders." Sen. Charles Schumer explained that the article "greatly" influenced his vote in favor of the filibuster. "[T]oday's revelation that the government listened in on thousands of phone conversations without getting a warrant is shocking," he said.
What that headline doesn't say -- and what Mr. Schumer obviously didn't read or care to mention -- is that the National Security Agency's program, started after September 11, monitors...
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
Will they vow to resign if another 9/11 occurs that the PA may have prevented?
No way, they'll shift blame.But this whole thing is looking better for President Bush and those Senator's who voted for cloture.
The Times has been exposed and some of these pols are backpedaling.Th Act will be approved before it expires,IMO.But I'm not forgetting these 4 wimps.
So, some freak terrorists kill 3000 and you are willing to shred the Constitution & Bill of Rights? What kind of twisted logic is that?
My argument is that now is the exact time to be sure we fight to protect & defend those sacred documents, not surrender to those both foreign and domestic that wish to prove them worthless.
I'm all for the WOT, but not at the expense of what defines us as the United States of America. This country was built on the ideal of freedom from tyranny, if we surrender those ideals the terrorists win.
I think Schmuckie always gets his marching orders from the NY Slimes.
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