By now I assume most of us know that 14 of the 16 provisions of the grossly misnamed Patriot Act which were set to expire today, have been made permanent. The other two have been extended for four years. A few cosmetic changes were put in to appease some critics. Nothing that actually diminishes the power of the state to spy on and arrest people as "terrorists".
Given that polls show the majority of the American people supporting warrantless wiretapping and that Republicans plan to use this as a campaign tool I am even more convinced that the nation founded on the idea of Liberty is dead. This is just another nail in its coffin.
Another Nail
AndersM says:
Submitted by AndersM (not verified) on Fri, 2006-03-10 11:33.
At the risk of sounding like someone with nothing to say, perhaps it's possible to view the name of this act quite aptly stated, viz.
"In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell."
- H.L. Mencken
"Patriotism is fierce as a fever, pitiless as the grave, blind as a stone, and as irrational as a headless hen."
- Ambrose Bierce
"Patriotism: combustible rubbish ready to the torch of any one ambitious to illuminate his name."
- Ambrose Bierce
"Patriotism is the religion of hell."
- James Branch Cabel
"When a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of its hands and the purity of its heart."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Journals, 1824
"Patriotism ruins history."
- Goethe
"Patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels."
- Samuel Johnson
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Sunni says:
Submitted by Sunni (not verified) on Fri, 2006-03-10 11:58.
Okay, you other early adopters: no more rubbing it in! (Just teasing, o'course.) Anders, thanks for the great quotes!
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Jorge says:
Submitted by Jorge (not verified) on Sat, 2006-03-11 09:42.
Wolfe, I too am "ahead of the curve" but recall what happened On the Beach. Just because we want to ignore the world does not mean that the world will ignore us.
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Wolf DeVoon says:
Justin Raimondo, writing yesterday on another topic: "almost enough to make one retire to the sidelines and forget about the follies of humankind: because if this is a taste of what the future has in store for us, then we are doomed anyway, and the few sane people who still care about such things would just as soon retire to a beach somewhere and live out their days contemplating the sunset of reason."
I guess I was ahead of the curve, six years on da beach :)