The Patriot Act II & H.R. 418 - threat to Democracy?
Are we on this case? It is more important to stop the “new and improved” Patriot Act than it is working to “protect” Social Security. If the Patriot Act II, and its corallary supporting legislation H.R. 418, sneak though under the fog of confusion caused by the Social Security distraction, then the fight for Social Security will not matter.
This is an extreme statement of the case, but perhaps extreme conditions require extreme statements. For a less extreme source, please also see Bill Moyer’s essay Welcome to Doomsday.
As Democrats working for all of the people, we should insist that NO American is above the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As Democrats, we must insist that any claims that any person can be placed above the law are such a violation of our democratic principals that they may rightly be considered treasonous. Are we to remain a democracy based on the principal that we are ALL equal before the law and that none are above it? Only, it seems, if the Democrats and we the people fight for it.
As an example, the Italian reporter who was shot by American troops, and who claims her captors told her that the Americans did NOT want her to return, is the one who broke the Abu Ghraib story and was reporting on the conditions (real conditions) of the country and the election. It is reported that she was way past the check points, which is the only reason she survived. Could it be that the neocons do NOT want her to expose possibly another Abu Ghraib? Or could it be payback for breaking the Abu Ghraib story? The reality is, if she were not past the checkpoints, she would be dead. She was too close to the airport. If you want to know more, read the international papers reporting on this.
In the end, the shooting may well have been accident. The question remains, however, would it not have been in our best interests that such a prominent reporter, and newly released hostage, be given special treatment to insure that just such accidents would not be possible?
Our political opponents are the right wing equivalents of the bombers in the Weather Underground. They arrogantly believe they are morally superior and therefore entitled to do anything they want in pursuit of their goals. As the former members of the WU report, this is an exceedingly dangerous position to hold.
Failing to protect reporters, destroying our Constitution and our Bill of Rights, as well as placing Bush and his cronies above the law, are all part and parcel of their arrogant claims of moral superiority used to justify their naked power grab.
Note 1: A Right Wing Disinformation Campaign has already begun.
Contributing on this piece is Larisa Alexandrovna, Associate Editor at Raw Story and founding member of OSPA
Updated and revised March 8th, 2005
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We need to find out what this bill is now called since it has already been appallingly approved by the House.
To what specific bill is HR 418 now attached? Is it part and parcel of the Iraq spending bill? How do we contact our Senators to get them to submit an amendment to remove it?
Time is of the essence on this bill, yes?
Attached to the Iraq spending bill as a rider. Yes, there is a push/demand to get this passed ASAP!!! Email Senators via any of the various web provided services or individually and provide the snips, as they too often too busy to read bills.