So the FBI admits to illegally using it’s expanded power granted by the USA Patriot Act. What a damn surprise. Isn’t this one of the major reasons all the critics of the Patriot Act bring up? There’s no oversight. There’s so much potential for abuse of power. I’m sorry but you can’t simply “trust” these people to follow all the rules. There has to be accountability and oversight. That’s the whole basis our government is formed upon – checks and balances.
So the FBI director comes out saying he should be held accountable and that the buck stops with him. The attorney general comes out and criticizes him and says he believed the FBI would act responsibly. Congress is now considering limiting the Patriot Act. I find this all kind of nonsensical. I don’t know how else to describe it.
What’s the attorney general’s job? What are the responsibilities of the secretary of defense? What is the purpose of the director of national intelligence? It’s a great way for this administration, who pushed the Patriot Act, to escape blame or responsibility and find a scapegoat with the FBI director. And an idiotic Congress, which barely read the Patriot Act before enacting it, now thinks it should be limited AFTER abuse of power comes out. The whole POINT of many opponents of the Patriot Act was that it leaves too much potential for abuse of power.
I sometimes really wonder WHAT IF the popularly chosen candidate (and rightfully elected President by all subsequent counts of the vote, thanks Supreme Court!), Al Gore, had won the election in 2000. I’m certain this country and this government would not be in the state it is now. We live under the guise of freedom with an executive branch that acts unilaterally without checks on its power and have become the most hated nation in the world, many going as far as saying the United States is the biggest threat to world peace. Sad.
Leave a Reply