Tom Harkin says no to Patriot Act
Good for my old senator from Iowa (and an ethnic Slovene). He was one of only ten senators who voted against extending the Patriot Act yesterday:
NAYs ---10
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Byrd (D-WV)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Murray (D-WA)
Wyden (D-OR)
Senator Bingaman of New Mexico, by the way, is also vigorously supporting Laura Berg's First Amendment rights. Double kudos.
As for the other 90--fie and shame on you. Both "liberal" senators from Massachusetts voted in favor. So did Hillary Clinton, which is only what I would have expected--she is perennially useless on the issues. And Chuck Hagel, who occasionally has flashes of integrity, courage, and independence, but chose not to reveal them on this occasion. And Richard Lugar, my old senator from Indiana, who has a reputation for integrity but in no way deserves it: when Bush comes to shove, and votes come up, Lugar is pure partisan hack. And George Voinovich, also an ethnic Slovene, who showed some balls in opposing the nomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the UN, but apparently doesn't have a problem curtailing civil liberties on behalf of an administration that is already drunk on executive power. And rising political star Barack Obama, who was listed by the New Statesman as one of 10 people who will change the world. A nice place to start would have been to join the ten listed above. Who else disappointed? Oh yeah, Barbara Boxer. Though at least she voiced some reservations over the bill. Apparently Dianne Feinstein slipped in some anti-methamphetamine provision as a sweetener, and Boxer couldn't say no.
Something I bet you didn't know: "PATRIOT" is an acronym, not a word. Quick, what does it stand for?
Give up?
"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." (U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T.--get it?)
If you ask me, it should have been called Fraudulently Authorizing the Suppression and Control of Innocents Suspected of Terrorism. The F.A.S.C.I.S.T. Act.
Maybe I can get a job in Washington in that little department that thinks up catchy names for this stuff.
NAYs ---10
Akaka (D-HI)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Byrd (D-WV)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Murray (D-WA)
Wyden (D-OR)
Senator Bingaman of New Mexico, by the way, is also vigorously supporting Laura Berg's First Amendment rights. Double kudos.
As for the other 90--fie and shame on you. Both "liberal" senators from Massachusetts voted in favor. So did Hillary Clinton, which is only what I would have expected--she is perennially useless on the issues. And Chuck Hagel, who occasionally has flashes of integrity, courage, and independence, but chose not to reveal them on this occasion. And Richard Lugar, my old senator from Indiana, who has a reputation for integrity but in no way deserves it: when Bush comes to shove, and votes come up, Lugar is pure partisan hack. And George Voinovich, also an ethnic Slovene, who showed some balls in opposing the nomination of John Bolton as Ambassador to the UN, but apparently doesn't have a problem curtailing civil liberties on behalf of an administration that is already drunk on executive power. And rising political star Barack Obama, who was listed by the New Statesman as one of 10 people who will change the world. A nice place to start would have been to join the ten listed above. Who else disappointed? Oh yeah, Barbara Boxer. Though at least she voiced some reservations over the bill. Apparently Dianne Feinstein slipped in some anti-methamphetamine provision as a sweetener, and Boxer couldn't say no.
Something I bet you didn't know: "PATRIOT" is an acronym, not a word. Quick, what does it stand for?
Give up?
"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." (U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T.--get it?)
If you ask me, it should have been called Fraudulently Authorizing the Suppression and Control of Innocents Suspected of Terrorism. The F.A.S.C.I.S.T. Act.
Maybe I can get a job in Washington in that little department that thinks up catchy names for this stuff.
posted by Jean at 8:52 PM
5 Comments:
Christ, how depressing! I didn't see this anywhere but on your blog . . .nice catch!
Thanks for stopping by. You've got some good posts up on yours but I've had problems leaving comments there. I enjoy reading you.
Great post, Jean. I'm wondering if we can setup a petition somewhere for real Democrats to take a pledge not to vote for any politician who supports the FASCIST Act and the illegal invasion of Iraq (including "staying the course").
We also need to identify and support true Democrats when they run against the corporate shills like H. Clinton et.al. If they lose the primary, then IMHO we are better off "wasting our vote" on some Green or Socialist or write-in candidate than voting for a non-oppositional fraud.
If the Democratic Party won't support the working people of this country, let them die.
Don't know if anyone else reading this blog lives in New York, but there are two Democratic opposition candidates to Hilary Clinton in her re-election campaign for the Senate. Contact me for more info...
"If the Democratic Party won't support the working people of this country, let them die."
I assume (and hope!) you mean let the Democratic Party die, not the working people! Though I fear at present the reverse is more the case.
I'll take that pledge. What a message it would send to establishment Democrats if Hillary was defeated.
Elizabeth, if there are TWO opposition candidates, won't it make it that much harder to pose a challenge to Clinton's power? Who's the other candidate?
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