Hopefully, all of you caught C-SPAN yesterday. The debate on the Republican side got bizarre at points. When discussing the federal government's demand for library records under the Patriot Act, one of the Republican reps started shouting at the Amnesty International representative--name some names? What librarians have been forced to turn over records? The AI rep did come up with a name, but the point is that any librarian who admits to having received a request by the government could be prosecuted under the Patriot Act! So we're in this bizarre catch-22 world in which the law forbids people from submitting evidence that is being demanded in order to demonstrate the extreme nature of the law. After extremely acrimonious debate, during which the Republican representatives refused to discuss the matter at hand (the Patriot Act and violations of civil liberties) and chose instead to dwell on sensationalist news stories, a Republican staffer abruptly turned off the microphones. One of the witnesses whose testimony was abrubtly ended, James Zogby of the Arab American Institute, had this to say about the event:
"I just saw something...totally inappropriate. No mic on and no record being kept. But I think as we are lecturing foreign governments about the conduct of their behavior with regard to opposition -- when I see the behavior I saw here today as an American -- I'm really troubled about what kind of lesson this is going to teach to other countries in the world about how they ought to conduct an open society that allows for an opposition with rights. I'm sorry, I'm very offended."
7 comments:
Let's do this: the website for the House Committee on the Judiciary has a page that asks citizens to report instances of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse. I allege that the hearing on the Patriot Act met those criteria.
--It was Fraudulent, because
it did not serve its purported purpose. Rather than being a
forum for civil discourse, it was a platform for the majority to
express their views.
--It was Wasteful, because
they flew in witnesses and held a hearing, at great expense, yet did
not further the cause of democracy.
--It was Abusive, because it denied the right of free speech to some participants.
So let's use their reporting page to point out to them that they are
engaging in the very behavior that they claim to protect us from.
Karlo - thanks for putting this up - it's really important. We're looking at the tyranny of the majority...creeping totalitarianism.
I like the idea of reporting fraud, waste, and abuse. Although I think that getting the witnesses on national TV (even though their microphones were eventually cut off) wasn't a waste of time. The witnesses did and excellent job presenting the case against the Patriot Act. It was something all Americans needed to watch. I wish more Americans would avoid the slanted commentary of the mainstream news media and simply watch these things for themselves. And Alicia, you're absolutely right--tyranny's the only word to describe what's happening. The Republicans reject as ludicrous the very notion that the American government could ever do anything wrong and have set up a double-standard. We now have a two-tiered justice system, two tiered health and educational system and a two-tiered democracy: one system for the elite and well-connected and one for the rest of us.
More on this at SpeakSpeak, the Blog for Freedom of Speech:
"Decency and Rep. James Sensenbrenner"
I'll check out the link. Thanks.
Thanks for this story, Karlo -- this kind of proceeding is truly outrageous! Now, i fear that the recent bust of a supposed Al Queda ring plotting further tourism inside the United States is going to be used to railroad the unpatriotic and noxious "Patriot Act" into permanency...
It's funny how these arrest here and abroad always seem to happen right at the time that new anti-terrorist measures are being considered.
Post a Comment