Is it me, or is it impossible to find coverage of the leak of the Patriot Act II, and/or the democratic response to it, on any major network or major network website? Is it a situation where they haven't independently confirmed the leak, or is it that they have been asked by Ashcroft and Co. to be silent, or am I just missing the links/stories?
The word supine comes to mind when considering the media (and the public) on this. Mark my words folks, if this thing gets passed there is going to be hell to pay. A lot of innocent and really innocuous scofflaws are going to dissapear, quite literally. It will take nothing short of a revolution (bloody or "velvet" take your pick) to get these rights back.
CSPAN? anyone who cares watches it. otherwise i'm sure there's a baby that fell in a well somewhere that is obviously more important. Public opinion won't be swayed that was anyways. they'd much rather have Joe Millionare tell them "war bad, tv good."
While for the most part true, your statement is somewhat elietist. Lots of people who "care" a lot don't. I don't. I don't have time. I work all day, come home at night, help with the toddler roundup and then if I'm lucky, about 10 p.m. or so I have some time to myself to read, write, surf or (mostly) just check-out and watch something mindless on the boob tube. The last thing I want to do is tune in CSPAN and wade through the massive noise-to-signal hash that is political discourse for a nugget of something useful. I am really having a hard time believing that the big broadcasters are taking a pass on the PA2/DSEA story. Do they think that they will be immune? I guess everyone's forgotten Nixon, eh? I really, really think that this one is the turning point. If this bill passes in anything resembling its current form, there is no turning back. We have submitted ourselves to a surveillance state; a permanent State of Emergency where political activity that strays at all from the highly choreographed, mainstream party lines and techniques will be subject to the highest degree of suspiscion and scrutiny. Anyone who participates will run the most serious risks of having the full weight of the Federal Security Apparatus come down on them.
i work all day. come home and get in my car and visit the city. i'm lucky if i'm home sometimes by 1. if it's important to you then you find time. i read magazines and newspapers on the weekend and subscribe to online journals. a comprehension of things is obtainable. you just have to spend time understanding. until PA2 causes death or fires you won't see it on the big broadcast news. maybe if you're lucky the ragin' cajun will give it a "talkin' 'bout"
There are those who, out of naivete because they've never lived in another country without them, take our civil liberties for granted. They'll support the passage of a Patriot Act II. Then there are those who are cowards and will sacrifice anything for a greater sense of "security." They'll support the passage of a Patriot Act II.
It was on NPR last night - two points were made - (1) that it had to be debated, and (2) that it was "leaked" - not deliberately to test the waters - but deliberately because somebody (on Ashcroft's staff?) was very concerned that PA II had been put together - it is 120 pages and takes some time to work through. It may be that it is simply unfit (120 pages) for a short 60 second story on the major networks - as I said before - PA II will get ripped apart and debated and discussed in Congress.
Check it "A 24-hour black-owned and operated news channel will bring news from a different perspective to urban communities across the country," said Gary. "This is a major breakthrough in television news. MBC News will have a tremendous impact by broadcasting the positive aspects of African American culture, which are too often ignored by other networks." http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030211/fltu013_1.html
This is my sense as well, particularly from the posts on the "Patriot Act II" thread...people posting there don't seem to realize that it's very difficult to name a nation that, once it has taken away a set of rights, has given them back without "revolution."
This goes back to my very base theory that no man is complete until he's gotten the shit kicked out of him - either literally or politically. Romantically doesn't count, you fags.
You know what scares me? After the dust (literally) settled from 9/11 and amid all the coming-togetherness and introspection I thought, "God, in a backwards really painful way this might just be what this country needs in order to get its collective head screwed on vis-a-vis the way our society perceives both itself and the rest of the world." And now look at us. Huge steps backwards. All the post 9/11 global goodwill just pissed away. And now I think, "Well if 9/11 didn't sort us out, just what kind of freakin' world-class disaster is it going to take?"
Dude, perhaps you should wait until a proposal is actually submitted before you get your panties all in a twist? This is a leak and nothing more. Extreme measures are always drafted in early stages of legislation and then eliminated item by item. Worry about things that are on the table, not hypotheticals.
Well, Patriot Act II is a hypothesis, I agree. I was in fact referring to both the reality of Patriot Act I, and the possibility of Patriot Act II. I would say that we are not waiting for an "extreme" proposal to snatch away rights we have under the Constitution, but that we are in the midst of such a process, this new proposal simply a further reduction of the daily meaning of my and your citizenship.
Welcome to the FEAR networks. Our strapline: "Who cares what the 'news' is, as long as you come and get your fright fix from us every day at 5, 6, and 11" (cue Curtis Mayfield, "I'm Your Pusherman"...) fade to black...
One, this is not just a trial balloon or someone at DoJ musing out loud on background. These are proposed additions to the US Code, written as such. Two, this is what DoJ wants and believes it has to have to fight the war on terrorism the way it wants to. The elements of PAII will continue to get added to the legislative agenda either as a formal PAII --where it may or may not be enacted in whole or in part -- or as piecemeal bits of legislation tacked on under the radar. Believing anything different is whistling in the graveyard my friend.
Still... Still no coverage except one Washington Post editorial (what, the "majors" are allowed to editorialize, but not write about drafts of pending legislative attempts? They had less on Watergate from Deep Throat and they ran with it) as of this writing, corect me if I'm wrong... The netwroks must continue to be exposed for the FEAR-mongering rate card sluts they are, and always will be. We need a media evolution, now...
fair Enuff ok, fair enough you found one other, in the editorial/opinion section. Isn't it noteworthy that no major outlet will confirm in story-form, for the enlightenment and awareness of its readers, the existence and ramifications of this draft? Towards what end do these outlets function, if not to do that very thing in the course of their efforts? But, of course we already know the answer to that question; we just don't like it.