During the presidential campaign, the Bush campaign was relentless in attacking John Kerry for his willingness to alter the Patriot Act. One of the campaign’s first ads featured a female voiceover darkly warning voters about Kerry’s agenda, charging, “On the war on terror: weaken the Patriot Act used to arrest terrorists and protect America.”
A few months later, at a Bush campaign news conference, former Assistant Attorney General Viet Dinh made one of the worst arguments I’ve ever heard. Ever.
“I read somewhere that Sen. Kerry said that he supports 95% of the USA Patriot Act — that’s similar to saying you’re 95% not pregnant.”
Less than a year later, guess who’s ready to touch up about 5% of the Patriot Act?
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales will propose some “technical modifications” to the controversial USA Patriot Act today in an effort to address the concerns of critics and ensure that the anti-terrorism legislation is renewed by Congress later this year, according to a Justice Department official.
In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gonzales will support changes in the law concerning secret warrants for financial documents, library data and other business records, according to the Justice official. The changes would clearly limit the use of such warrants to national security investigations and would allow targets to mount legal challenges to the search, the official said.
The proposal marks a significant shift for the Justice Department, which under Attorney General John D. Ashcroft had refused to entertain proposed changes to the legislation. It also marks an acknowledgment of the growing clout of critics of the law, who come from both the political left and right, and have persuaded scores of communities around the country to pass resolutions condemning the act.
This would be the same Patriot Act the Bush campaign insisted was inviolate, right? And these are some of the same minor modifications that proved that John Kerry couldn’t be trusted on national security issues, right?
Just checking.