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Wow … Just Wow

Twenty-six Republicans blocked what has largely become rubber-stamping exercises in Patriot Act renewals yesterday. Now that is news one doesn’t hear everyday, nor ever. For nine years I have been writing about the Patriot Act, an expansive set of super-law enforcement provisions designed to better pursue terrorists in the wake of 9/11, but instead have […]

Twenty-six Republicans blocked what has largely become rubber-stamping exercises in Patriot Act renewals yesterday. Now that is news one doesn’t hear everyday, nor ever. For nine years I have been writing about the Patriot Act, an expansive set of super-law enforcement provisions designed to better pursue terrorists in the wake of 9/11, but instead have affected all Americans as they have been applied to regular criminal investigations, too, and contributed to the overall creep of the domestic national security state.

That the new Republican-held House has been the first in years to “just say no” to the Patriot Act is ironic, given that it was the White House and Republicans in Congress that rammed it all down everyone’s throats just as the dust was settling on Ground Zero in October 2001. Since then, lonely libertarians like Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, have joined forces with liberals on the Democratic side to challenge the new laws when they come up for extensions, but to no avail. In fact, sneaky Democrats on the House side last February tucked the sun-setting Patriot Act provisions into a shoe-in Medicare reform bill for an ultimately easy glide through Congress in 2010.

Sure, Democrats on the the Senate side, like former Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., have fought valiantly against both the GOP and their own lame Democratic leadership to stop what many federal courts have have deemed unconstitutional provisions of the Patriot Act, but again, got nowhere in the end. The influence of tough-talking GOP — you know, Republicans like say, Liz Cheney, who say that if you don’t support waterboarding you’re “coddling terrorists “– on looming re-election campaigns has always, in the end, overwhelmed any Democratic resolve to “reform” the laws (wasn’t that what Barack Obama promised when he was running for president? He even once said he’d repeal them).

Thanks in large part to these 26 Republicans, yesterday’s vote fell seven votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill, which most people assumed was a fait accompli. The sunsetting measures contained in the bill include the controversial roving wiretaps provision  (which allows the Feds to tap any communication device of a target without having to specify who or what they are targeting), the “lone wolf” provision, and the infamous Section 215, which forces libraries and businesses to turn over personal records and “any tangible thing” connected to suspects, with accompanying gag orders,  in the course of an investigation.

The list of dissenting Republicans included nine freshmen, suggesting a heavy Tea Party influence. As listed by Jason Ditz at Antiwar.com, the freshmen are in bold:

Justin Amash (Mich.), Roscoe G. Bartlett (Md.), Rob Bishop (Utah), Paul Broun (Ga.), John Campbell (Calif.), John J. Duncan Jr. (Tenn.), Michael G. Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Christopher P. Gibson (N.Y.), Tom Graves (Ga.) Dean Heller (Nev.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.), Timothy V. Johnson (Ill.), Walter B. Jones (N.C.), Jack Kingston (Ga.), Raul R. Labrador (Idaho), Connie Mack (Fla.), Kenny Marchant (Tex.), Tom McClintock (Calif.), Ron Paul (Tex.), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Phil Roe (Tenn.), Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.), Robert Schilling (Ill.), David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rob Woodall (Ga.), Don Young (Alaska).

Some of the Tea Party’s emphasis on individual freedoms and federal excess might indeed be playing out in real practical terms right in front of our eyes. Ardent liberal and longtime opponent of the Patriot Act, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, certainly did not skip a beat in recognizing this development:

“Look at the ‘Don’t Tread on Me flag.’ It doesn’t say don’t tread on me, but it’s okay if you spy,” said Kucinich on Tuesday. “What the Republican leadership didn’t count on is that they have some new members who are freshmen who are conservative, libertarian, who really do believe in civil liberties.”

But before we get ahead of ourselves, its important to note that most Republicans, as usual, voted for the measure yesterday, and the leadership was none too happy with the fact they didn’t make the two-thirds threshold. But rather than go after the frosh, they aimed their ire at Democrats, which broke 122 to 67 against the bill.

“I am surprised that so many Democrats who supported an extension of these very same provisions last Congress suddenly changed their votes,” said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas. “President Obama supports a reauthorization of these important national security tools.”

A  spokeswoman for House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), avoided her own boss’s apparent fumble and instead blamed the other side.

“Today, Democrats in Congress voted to deny their own administration’s request for key weapons in the war on terror,” said McCarthy spokeswoman Erica Elliott.

Meanwhile this week, libertarian ideals as they relate to issues like security have made it onto the agenda at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) in Washington, and might be gaining some new-found attention at the annual confab. It will be interesting to see the reaction to presentations/appearances by anti-Patriot Act stalwarts like Jacob Hornberger, Bruce Fein and James Bovard.  Both Pauls — Rep. Paul and new Sen. Rand Paul — are scheduled to speak Thursday and Friday respectively. A “Repeal the Patriot Act” panel will lay out the libertarian argument at 10 a.m on Saturday.

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