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> Normally, you could expect Republicans to oppose a big government program like this, but, as we all know, as soon as you say the word "terrorist", they're all
by chimeracoder 14y ago
> Normally, you could expect Republicans to oppose a big government program like this, but, as we all know, as soon as you say the word "terrorist", they're all suddenly in favor of big government and big spending.
It works on both sides of the aisle. I'm too embarrassed to count how many progressives I know who opposed the FISA wiretaps, the PATRIOT act, and Gitmo under Bush, yet bent over backwards to find ways to excuse Obama for taking each of those policies even further.
- rayiner 14y agoSo as a Democrat whose opinions have evolved on the subject, it's not just blind partisanship. A lot of the fear-mongering about the PATRIOT Act that was waved around in 2001 just hasn't come to pass, and it has been watered down over time. The same thing with Guantanamo. The Supreme Court pretty much smacked down the Executive between 2004-2008, and the fears never materialized. This is the list of defense attorneys for the Guantanamo Bay detainees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_attorneys#Guantanamo_detainees.27_defense_attorneys http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_attorneys#Guanta.... This isn't a big scary shadowy thing anymore--the place is crawling with lawyers now.
- graue 14y agoScroll up a bit on that same page, and it sounds like there are serious abuses.
- flyinRyan 14y ago>A lot of the fear-mongering about the PATRIOT Act that was waved around in 2001 just hasn't come to pass What? The PATRIOT act has almost exclusively been used for non-terrorist cases. I.e. we were lied to about what it was for. And if you think how Gitmo has been used "wasn't that bad" I'd like to know what would need to happen for you to think it actually was bad.