In sum, the Patriot Act was a "hasty change that overturns long-established customs and principles." We should not have compounded the error by rushing through a renewal. Congress should be commended for having given itself time to take a deep breath and make sure that it has an opportunity for full debate and evaluation of each provision and proposed amendment rather than making hurried changes at the last minute under the gun.He quotes him a lot, so I might have to start reading him directly... maybe later.
Anyway, does anyone else think that the extension of the USA Patriot Act was a really bad tactical move by the Democrats? It feeds into the "there's an emergency, a war on" hysteria. With all respect to Prof. Bainbridge, Congress has had plenty of time to discuss and consider the Act; the time had come to revise it or, my preference, let it die. By forcing the administration to let the act expire rather than compromise the most egregious civil liberty violations, it would put the Republicans on record as inflexible and the Democrats as, for a change, principled.
No comments:
Post a Comment