Coal in My Stocking
If the House signs on, it appears that the Patriot Act won’t expire in 9 days, and will be extended for 6 additional months.
That’s just enough time for the Bush wiretapping/eavesdropping story to
blow over so that he can push for a permanent extension. TK
passed on this Newsweek piece about how Bush met with the NYT to try to dissuade them from printing the eavesdropping story (after they already sat on it for over a year). To cap it off, as boingboing points out, Bush knew he was going beyond the bounds of the Constitution as this excerpt from an April 2004 speech demonstrates:
[T]here are such things as roving wiretaps. Now, by the way, any time
you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it
requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by
the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re
talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for
our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act,
constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is
necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.
you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it
requires — a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by
the way. When we’re talking about chasing down terrorists, we’re
talking about getting a court order before we do so. It’s important for
our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act,
constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is
necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution.
ToastyKen
December 22, 2005 @ 3:57 pm
Hey now! Don’t be shortchanging that coal in your stocking. Energy makes the world go ’round! Plus, it may be the wave of the future! Then again, maybe not. 😛
ToastyKen
December 22, 2005 @ 4:06 pm
Also, here’s some… deuterium? for my stocking: The California mandatory video game rating law has been blocked by a preliminary injunction.