Patriot Act

[ciba]

Follow me a bit here.

First Kerry votes for it, then Bush signs it into law and enforces it. How is Bush the bad guy and Kerry the good guy over this bit of legislation?

I can see two explanations:

1) Kerry suckered the dems into believing he's really opposed to the Patriot Act, when he voted for it.
or
2) You think the executive branch should enforce the law as they choose. Congress passed the Patriot Act, and shrub is the bad guy for doing his job.... enforcing the law.

Am I missing something here? I just don't see how this can be an issue(*) with anyone who understands the legislative process.

(*) For one party but not the other. I disagree with the PA, but fault both parties equally.

 

[Todd33]

Lets not oversimplify the whole thing.

The Patriot act was a knee jerk reaction to 9/11 when emotions were high and the country was united to 'get the bad guy'. It was rushed into a vote. Much or all was temporary, now Bush wants to make it perminant, much like his temporary tax cuts. Bush is flip-flopping (hehe).

Now that everyone has had time to debate, examine and see the patriot act in action, many are against it.

 

[Kibbo]

Oooh,

I've spawned a spin-off. Golden Girls eat your heart out.

Levity aside, I'm inclined to agree with Todd. The Patriot Act is an excess which is forgivable. One shouldn't blame Bush for it, heck, Canada passed something similar shortly thereafter. What you should do is decide whether or not you want to keep it, and vote accordingly.

 

[Rainsford]

I would suggest it was Bush's idea, congress supported it because they would, very possibly, have been stoned (the bad way) if they had said it was bad. Much like the red scare, emotions were running high among voters and objecting to a measure claiming to protect the country would have been politically impossible at that point.

My real problem with Bush is two-fold. First of all, it's was his baby in the first place, he used (in the worst sense of the word) the emotional response of people to 9/11 to push it through with no real opposition. His tactics, almost as much as his goals, are what bother me. Secondly, he still supports it, despite growing opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. This fuels my belief that he doesn't really support civil rights the way I would like the president to. I think he thinks he's protecting the country, we simply disagree about what that involves.

 

[daveshel]

The current Patriot Act was enacted as a temporary measure not long after 9/11, when everybody was in a state of shock. Everybody went along with it - at the time it would have been political suicide to oppose it.

But as a long-term strategy it is repugnant to the principles on which our nation was founded. Bush either believes that circumstances merit adandoning our freedom, which is scary, ot he doesn't fully appreciate the gravity of the what he is doing, which is even scarire.

 

[conjur]

When even Republican Senators are against the Patriot Act and want to see it modified or expired, it's not a partisan matter.

 

[oreagan]

Bush does not deserve to be punished for the Patriot Act, nor do any of the Congressmen who voted for it. It was rash, but America has a history of knee-jerk reactions in emergencies.

Bush loses my support, however, because he continues to strongly support a Patriot Act II through Ashcroft.

"To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. They give ammunition to America's enemies and pause to America's friends." -John Ashcroft

Yes, that is EXACTLY the attitude I want in my Attorney General.

 

[ciba]

Originally posted by: KibboI've spawned a spin-off. Golden Girls eat your heart out.

I don't like to hijack threads.

It is fair enough that you criticize Bush for support of Patriot Act II, but Patriot Act I is not. Kerry voted for it, and he needs to own up to that. What was contained in the act wasn't a big secret.

That aside, Bush's enforcement of the act is what I EXPECT from a president. I don't want a president that will neglect to enforce major law just a few years after it is enacted.

To put it in perspective, asking Bush to refuse to enforce the PA is like asking him to refuse to enforce the AWB.