Senate Renews Patriot Act
WASHINGTON — Late Wednesday evening, senators struck a deal that will fully reauthorize the Patriot Act in its current form for six months and give lawmakers the chance to revisit controversial portions of the act that have been subject to extensive opposition.
Soon after the deal was announced, the Senate passed the extension.
The agreement came after a full day of negotiation among President Bush and Senate Republican leaders who support renewal and Democrats and moderate GOPers who oppose the act in its negotiated form.
[Read on.]
The media, the NSA and the Patriot Act
By Clint Van Zandt
Does the National Security Agency (NSA), also known as "No Such Agency," listen in on your every telephone call and track you every time you use the Internet? Does the FBI use the Patriot Act to find out what library books you check out? Both of these allegations could not be further from the truth. But were you to get your news from only certain elements of the media, you might believe them.
In the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. And in the world of media, who gets it out first gets to spin it any which way they want. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) accused The New York Times, a newspaper that's had its share of problems lately, with timing the release of accusations about the Bush administration's use of the NSA to spy on the communications of U.S. citizens with the release of a book related to this topic by one of its reporters. Further, Cornyn suggested that the NYT might be trying to sabotage hearings by Congress concerning the renewal of certain provisions of the Patriot Act.
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