Religions > Atheism > Five reasons why conservatives should fight the Patriot Act
| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"stoney" |
| Date: |
16 Apr 2005 02:44:00 AM |
| Object: |
Five reasons why conservatives should fight the Patriot Act |
http://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0504/10/A13-145106.htm
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Five reasons why conservatives should fight the Patriot Act
By Nolan Finley / The Detroit News
Politicians who place principle ahead of partisanship are as rare
today as elephants at the Detroit Zoo. But count Bob Barr among them.
The former Georgia congressman is a charter member of the religious
right. Arch-conservative doesn't begin to describe his politics.
Yet Barr is at risk of becoming to Republicans what his fellow
Georgian, Sen. Zell Miller, is to the Democrats -- a turncoat who
refuses to toe the party line.
Barr is one of the leading voices opposing renewal of the most
intrusive elements of the Patriot Act, the legislation passed hastily
by Congress in the weeks after September 11 to strengthen law
enforcement's hand against terrorists.
Barr sees large portions of the Patriot Act for what they are: a
trampling of constitutional protections against Big Government
bullying that ultimately leave Americans less free and less secure.
He's drawn the ire of the White House and many former Republican
congressional pals by chairing Patriots to Restore Checks and
Balances, a mix of groups across the political spectrum that fear the
Patriot Act's impact on civil liberties. Barr's key ally is the
American Civil Liberties Union, an alliance that is to conservative
Republicans what Miller's appearance on the GOP convention stage was
to Democrats.
But to Barr, being conservative doesn't mean rubber- stamping every
position taken by the White House and the Republican Party. He defines
conservative by a set of principles. Those include a healthy respect
for personal freedom and privacy, as well as reading the Constitution
the way it was written by the Framers.
By that measure, it's not Barr who has deserted conservatism, but
conservatives who have abandoned their platform. In their rush to
battle terrorism, they've forgotten that freedom is what the fight is
all about.
For those who think only a liberal would make a stink about government
overreach in as noble a cause as the war on terrorism, Barr offers
five reasons why conservatives should be leading the charge against
the Patriot Act.
1. It knocks the stuffing out of the Fourth Amendment, which mandates
the maximum respect for the sanctity of a citizen's home and personal
property. It establishes that the rights of the individual are equal
to the power of the government. Isn't individualism a foundation block
of conservative thinking?
2. It allows secret searches of homes and offices without timely
notification to their occupants and permits the secret seizure of
private property. These are police state tactics.
3. It permits the government to employ secret courts to collect data
on the private lives of its citizens, ranging from library check-outs
to gun purchases, without the judicial checks and balances.
4. It defines terrorist activity so broadly it could be applied
against all manner of political dissenters, including pro-life
demonstrators.
5. Finally -- and this is my favorite -- the power of the Patriot Act
doesn't expire with the current administration.
Republicans may trust that George W. Bush won't misuse the
extraordinary powers bestowed by the Patriot Act. But will they be as
comfortable when a President Hillary wields them?
Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of The News. Reach him at
nfinley@detnews.com or (313) 222-2064. Watch Nolan Finley at 2 p.m.
Sunday and 5:30 p.m. Friday on "Am I Right?" on WTVS-TV (Channel 56).
© 2005 The Detroit News
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Hello, theocracy with a fundamentalist US Supreme
Court who will ensure church and state are joined
at the hip like clergy and altar boys.
America 1776-Jan 2001 RIP
Religion is the original war crime.
-Michelle Malkin (Feb 26, 2005)
.
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