The Senate is holding an unusual weekend vote tomorrow to extend section 215 of the Patriot Act 2 more months. If that vote fails, NSA bulk spying on U.S. citizens is illegal on June 1st.
Whatever happens in the short term the PATRIOT Act can be repealed.
If, that is, we have a congress and presidency that will let it die.
Since 2001- 14 years- we've had both congresses and presidencies that supported and renewed this piece of legislation. Despite abuses from the beginning and with the support of people who generally oppose the PATRIOT Act. (EG: Democrats voting for Obama, Libertarians who voted for Bush the second time around.)
I think this shows the flaw in the "two party" system.
I would be so much happier if everyone I met who was politically aware and active was supporting either the green or libertarian parties. The greens and libertarian presidential debates are already better than the "real" one that's televised. (The two parties have been having their alternate debates the past several election cycles.)
But so long as the Republicat Party can count on your support because you're afraid the Democans will shove Wedge Issue down your throat...well, they have you under control, don't they?
Even the wedge issues are a joke: B. Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law with 3/4 congressional democrat support, H. Clinton opposed gay marriage until 2013, and personally, I believe Obama is a homophobe and still opposes it, but says the words that appease the base, and can't actively undermine it because the tide has turned.
It's quite obvious that the Clintons and Obama are far more liberal than their policies — far from being a "homophobe" who secretly opposes gay marriage, Obama is almost certainly guilty merely of underestimating the rate of change of public opinion on gay rights. Clinton signed DoMA because he had to work with Gingrich's congress. He also instituted "don't ask don't tell" because that was as far as he could go at the time.
I have a lot of sympathy for many of the views of the Greens and some of those of Libertarians, but big parties are, by their nature, "corrupted" by the reality of assembling a working majority of the electorate and then the elected and actually having to govern.
The latest updates: there aren't enough votes for McConnell's proposed reauthorization, but there also aren't quite enough to pass the USA Freedom. So once cloture fails on USA Freedom, McConnell will propose for a very-short-term (one or two week) extension, in hopes that everybody wants to go home for the weekend and so will pass it quickly. If that passes, then the House (which has already adjourned) could pass it by unanimous consent in a pro forma session to avoid a sunset, then everybody could start wrangling again when they come back in early June. Of course the House has vowed not to do that, but I guess McConnell is hoping they'll be so concerned about a sunset that they'll back down.
It's like watching sausage getting made ... very very slowly.
"Senator McConnell’s bald-faced use of the tragedy of 9/11 as an excuse for surveillance programs that trample on the Constitution is as repugnant now as it was then."
I guess being from Kentucky I have to at least try to explain/justify to myself how this guy is still in power. I'll start with a short anecdote. I knew a staffer for a democrat in DC, and he told me very plainly, Mitch McConnell is the most powerful man in Washington and that Kentucky would be stupid to lose him. I didn't believe this, and don't want to, but it's probably not far from the truth.
McConnell has been in DC forever. If there is any justification for term limits, he is the epitome of it. Kentucky is rather unique, as with many surrounding states, in that you have a few cities that are relatively current, tech based, etc. But not 20 minutes away, you have whole slews of folks who've never used a computer and don't intend to. So, Kentucky is a challenging state to win.
But to an informed voter, what do you do? On one hand, McConnell is good for Kentucky and voters know this. He has certain power that is ultimately good for jobs in this state, and that's what he is elected to do. On the other hand, he is a terrible decision maker for the nation and for the future in general.
I didn't vote in his last reelection because I do not support him. But his opposition was laughably weak, probably because not many think they can beat him. And they may be right. We need term limits on all politicians to prevent people like him from existing as they do.
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[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 39.7 ms ] threadHere's how senators have voted in the past. http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/patriot-act-reauthor...
If, that is, we have a congress and presidency that will let it die.
Since 2001- 14 years- we've had both congresses and presidencies that supported and renewed this piece of legislation. Despite abuses from the beginning and with the support of people who generally oppose the PATRIOT Act. (EG: Democrats voting for Obama, Libertarians who voted for Bush the second time around.)
I think this shows the flaw in the "two party" system.
I would be so much happier if everyone I met who was politically aware and active was supporting either the green or libertarian parties. The greens and libertarian presidential debates are already better than the "real" one that's televised. (The two parties have been having their alternate debates the past several election cycles.)
But so long as the Republicat Party can count on your support because you're afraid the Democans will shove Wedge Issue down your throat...well, they have you under control, don't they?
Even the wedge issues are a joke: B. Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into law with 3/4 congressional democrat support, H. Clinton opposed gay marriage until 2013, and personally, I believe Obama is a homophobe and still opposes it, but says the words that appease the base, and can't actively undermine it because the tide has turned.
How did the tide turn?
At the state level and in the courts.
I have a lot of sympathy for many of the views of the Greens and some of those of Libertarians, but big parties are, by their nature, "corrupted" by the reality of assembling a working majority of the electorate and then the elected and actually having to govern.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2015/may/22/clock-wi...
The latest updates: there aren't enough votes for McConnell's proposed reauthorization, but there also aren't quite enough to pass the USA Freedom. So once cloture fails on USA Freedom, McConnell will propose for a very-short-term (one or two week) extension, in hopes that everybody wants to go home for the weekend and so will pass it quickly. If that passes, then the House (which has already adjourned) could pass it by unanimous consent in a pro forma session to avoid a sunset, then everybody could start wrangling again when they come back in early June. Of course the House has vowed not to do that, but I guess McConnell is hoping they'll be so concerned about a sunset that they'll back down.
It's like watching sausage getting made ... very very slowly.
thx linux dude that posted the original!
I have nothing to add.
McConnell has been in DC forever. If there is any justification for term limits, he is the epitome of it. Kentucky is rather unique, as with many surrounding states, in that you have a few cities that are relatively current, tech based, etc. But not 20 minutes away, you have whole slews of folks who've never used a computer and don't intend to. So, Kentucky is a challenging state to win.
But to an informed voter, what do you do? On one hand, McConnell is good for Kentucky and voters know this. He has certain power that is ultimately good for jobs in this state, and that's what he is elected to do. On the other hand, he is a terrible decision maker for the nation and for the future in general.
I didn't vote in his last reelection because I do not support him. But his opposition was laughably weak, probably because not many think they can beat him. And they may be right. We need term limits on all politicians to prevent people like him from existing as they do.