Cranky's News Round-Up

written by: The Cranky Liberal

1. Patriot Act Helps Fight The War However, it's not the Perpetual War on Terror that it is helping to fight. No, there is little evidence, excuse me - credible evidence - that the Patriot Act has kept America safer from bomb toting killers. No, the war the Patriot Act is set to help "win" is the worthless and money wasting War on Drugs.

What you say?

Maybe you missed this little nugget the other day in the paper, but it seems that the House of Representatives tucked a neat little bi-partisan amendment into the Patriot Re authorization bill that forces pharmicies and stores that carry Nyquil, Claritin-D, Sudafed and other cold drugs containing pseudoephedrine. Why? Because that's the key drug needed to make methamphetamine. They want to "control" the supply of the pseudoephedrine in an attempt to put meth labs out of business.

Sure. That's going to work. It works so well with every other drug.

How long has this country declared war on pot, coke and crack? How successful has it been? The answers - to long, and not at all. Meth will be no different. We will make life difficult for those of us suffering from allergies (Target and several other stores have this rule already and it is a pain in the ass when the pharmacy is closed!) or have a cold, and not cut down on the supply of meth on bit.

Why?

Because people want the stuff. They are willing to spend money for it. Someone will buy the raw ingredients by the barrel full and make it with assembly line efficiency. Supply and Demand will ensure that. All this will do is mess up access to needed drugs for honest people.

Drug addiction is bad. It is also a personal medical health issue. The government needs to get out of the morality business and quit passing legislation to infringe up personal freedom.

Oh wait - it's the Patriot Act. Never mind.

2. Speaking of the Patriot Act...

The fight over renewing the USA Patriot Act escalated Tuesday, with the Bush administration saying the nation's security depends on congressional approval before year's end and the Senate's top Democrat joining an effort to block passage. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., supports efforts to delay the vote, including a filibuster threatened by fellow Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, "so there will be more time to work on a good bipartisan bill," said his spokesman, Jim Manley. Meanwhile, President Bush sent his top law enforcement officer to Capitol Hill to demand that Congress pass a House-Senate accord that would renew more than a dozen provisions of the act before they expire Dec. 31. Delaying or blocking passage as opponents urge, would "make it much more difficult to restructure the Department of Justice in a way that continues the protection of this country," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told reporters on Capitol Hill on the eve of a House vote

Oh what fun. A Orwellian piece of legislation is getting questioned by both Republicans and Democrats, and Team Bush (fuck yeah!) sends in the goon squad to wave the "we won't be safe any more" if the Patriot Act expires flag.

Bushshit.

From where I sit, we are not safe with the Patriot Act, except now, it's the Federal Government as much as the terrorists we have to fear. You don't get rid of due process, judicial review, and consistent standards of evidence on the off chance you might find someone who is kind of related to a terrorist plot. The crap about "we won't be safe" and "we can't go back to pre 9/11 days" is pure scare tactic. Remember - we had the intelligence that might have prevented 9/11 without "The Patriot Act," we just fucked it up. Bad, invasive legislation isn't going to make people any smarter....

Oh, and just what are the Democrats and many Senate Republicans wanting to do that is driving President Bush into such a frenzy?

They want to pass a 3 month extension to the December 31'st deadline (when many of the more controversial aspects of TPA expire) so that they have more time to craft a well thought out, balanced bill. One that protects our liberty as well as our lives.

That's not good enough for George, and that should tell you all you need to know.