It's not too much to say that liberty and democracy were triumphant last week. Remarkably, the willingness of four senators to cross party lines was the key to this victory.
The good news came when the Senate voted to stall the renewal of the USA Patriot Act, which granted extraordinary powers to law enforcement after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Forty-six senators, including those four Republicans, refused to shut off debate on the bill because they believe that some of its provisions go too far in impinging upon civil liberties.
The rebels are not opposed to all of the Patriot Act's provisions; they acknowledge that the rise of terrorism requires new approaches to law enforcement. But they insist on preserving traditional American protections for individual rights. They think judges should be able to review the actions of the authorities, they want to avoid police fishing expeditions, and they want to protect privacy.
One of those rebels put the case plainly in last week's debate. "We should not be afraid of a judicial review or setting the appropriate standards of evidence," this senator declared. "We need to be mindful of Ben Franklin's words over 200 years ago: 'Those who would give up essential liberty in the pursuit of a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.' " No, these are not the words of one of President Bush's ultra-liberal enemies. They were spoken by John Sununu, a proudly libertarian conservative Republican from New Hampshire. The other Republicans who voted with Sununu to force more deliberation on the Patriot Act share his libertarian streak: Larry Craig, Lisa Murkowski and Chuck Hagel. Not a liberal in the bunch. They were joined by 41 Democrats and one independent.
good article. Well worth the read
http://topplebush.com/oped2408.shtml
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