A toast! To the tenth anniversary of Patriotism!
After all, how could patriotism have been possible before the advent of The Patriot Act??
Excuse me. Sorry, the official name is "The USA PATRIOT Act". See, without adding the "USA" at the beginning, you don't get the full effect of the acronym. See, unbeknownst to me until this morning, the Patriot Act actually stands for: "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act". I would really love to know how many hours whatever intern spent on forcing an acronym out of "USA PATRIOT". Fucking brilliant. Just imagine what that sort of energy and ingenuity could accomplish if properly focused!
Ten Long Years of government surveillance on American civilians, a grotesque sacrifice of civil liberty in the name of perceived security.
You know what? I'm going to step back from this one. I open the comments up here for your voice. Let me know what you feel about the Patriot Act. Is it a necessary evil? Or just another tool of the encroaching fascism that is taking over our once noble home of the free?
Speak your mind. Just don't speak it too freely, you never know who might be listening.
Out of 763 uses of "sneak and peek" in 2008, only 3 of them were used for anything related to terrorism..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSXMW2FMC7A
give that a watch. pretty interesting.
oh, and fantastic song.
Senator Russell Feingold, the only US Senator to vote against the PATRIOT act, made these remarks only a month after the 9/11 attacks. A good read if you're looking for reasonableness, perspective, and intellectual honesty out of a Senator.
ReplyDeleteFeingold was a champion of civil liberties, pushed hardest for campaign finance reform, and challenged corporate welfare - it's no surprise that after 18 years of service he was defeated by a tea party candidate this January.
Thanks for the comments guys. Very insightful. Keep 'em coming!
ReplyDeletePS - Bob Dole...is that really you??