Quote:
Originally posted by ThunderBalls
Maybe you need a little history lesson.
In 1933 the German Parliament (called the Reichstag) was burned to the ground. Hitler blamed the Communists and used it as an opportunity to arrest 4000 Communists. The day after the fire Hitler invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which permitted the suspension of civil liberties during national emergencies.
Same play different day.
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Ah, history. Bush is Hitler. Clinton is Hitler. Saddam is Hitler. Milosevic is Hitler. Castro is Hitler. Noriega is Hitler. the Ayatollah is Hitler. No one ever gets tired of playing the Hitler card.
The Weimar Republic was 14 years old at the time. The American Republic is 227. During that time the US has suspended "universal" civil rights many times in various acts and executive orders some of them before 1933. Arguably the two greatest presidents in US history suspended civil rights during times of national emergency; Roosevelt and Lincoln. Both of them did it with executive order not even bothering to go to Congress. A president has authority to do that. Congress balances that power with the ability to impeach. The American people balance that power at the election booth.
The Patriot Act is a normal reaction to such things both in American and World history. Many nations of the world have "national security" clauses intheir Constitution. Turkey being one example.
Doesn't mean I like the Patriot Act. Every last line of it should be repealed. If you pay attention to the US courts and Congress you'll see that has already begun.
I do think though that the proper historical analogy is not 1933 German history but any of the multitudes of times the US has invoked such measures - some of them quite drastic. Internment being probably the worst example. Wanna see what a real uproar is about? Read about the Alien and Sedition acts of John Adam's administration. Thomas Jefferson, the vice president at the time, left town in protest.
The Patriot Act passed the Senate 98-1 at a time of national emergency. Now reaction is going back the other way.