My new favorite quote.
Proving that he never read the very constitution he swore to uphold, nor did he pay attention during his High School history class.
"Civil liberties do not mean much when you are dead," Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Kentucky, told the Senate.
I can imagine Jimmy on a battlefield.
Captain Kelso: Jimmy, we have to hold this hill and defend the flag.
Pvt. Bunning: The flag don't mean much when you're dead! I'm outta here.
And yes, I'm officially calling Jim Bunning a coward. I don't see how he can send troops to war to defend America, when he himself admits that American ideals don't mean much. When I think of the absolute disparity between the courage of the founding fathers and the drivel we have today it makes me want to cry. Can you imagine this jackass at the Continental Congress? Would he have signed the Declaration of Independence?
The story is about the Patriot Act (I won't bore longtime readers-hee hee with another long diatribe against this act). However (couldn't resist), everytime I read a Patriot Act piece I wonder...if everyone expects things to return to normal once this "war on terror" is over, especially our own Stalin "Sweetly Naive" Malone, why such stong a desire by the White House to make the provisions permanant? Why not have sunset provisions that need to be renewed? There's a gap to the argument that I just don't understand.
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2 comments:
The neat thing about a democratic republic is that laws can be added or removed at any time. Making something "permanent" is in name only. Now, does that mean there is no good reason to prefer a sunset? No, I think a sunset is a reasonable request. But let's not go to the extreme by arguing that if the Patriot Act passes as a permanent bill then all the laws therein are with us for eternity.
Is there a good reason for not sunsetting these laws at this time? Perhaps to keep them from being political beach balls every 12 months. You may not agree with that approach, but it is a reasonable alternative to the bleak 1984-esque picture often painted on this blog.
The reason why folks don't want a sunset is that they know it is much, much harder to repeal an existing law than renew it. Politics 101, just look at funding issues and other laws. These things stay on the books forever becasue it is harder to vote them away than to vote agianst renewal.
The three year sunset, as originally placed in the Patriot Act, was reasonable. Gave enough time to see if it worked, gave enough time to see if its still neccessary. Again, IF these are meant to be temporary, make them temporary. I always question when actions don't match words, especially when it would be so easy to do so. Its rarely innocent when words and actions don't match. And there is no better example of words not matching action than the Patriot Act.
Once again, I wish I had your faith in the government, but I don't. I may be cynical, but I keep of the boiling frog.
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