Maybe House Republicans weren’t counting on their own turning their backs on the party. In a miscalculation, they brought a bill to renew components of the Patriot Act to the floor faster but required a two-thirds majority to pass. The yeas to renew outnumbered the nays, but the difference wasn’t large enough.
As Republicans scratch their heads over why people ostensibly against big government would frown upon roving wiretaps, we find ourselves agreeing with Dennis Kucinich.
He tried to sway tea party members to the Democrats’ side by pointing out the obvious contradiction:
“How about the Patriot Act, which has the broadest reach and the deepest reach of government to our daily lives?”
Granting the FBI access to any tangible object concerned in a terrorism investigation is an alarming idea when we think about it.
Of course, we understand the intent behind the law. What American wouldn’t want to keep terrorists away from our country?
We’re once again stuck in that endless battle between civil liberties and security.
Neither will be a definite winner, but it may be time for the GOP to step back and see what its own members see: It’s time to get away from the Big Brother image we’ve cultivated so well for the past decade.
