[IP] more on A New Selective Service Draft:
The Patriot Act wasn’t written after the 9/11 attack. It was written before it and was waiting for an opportunity to get through Congress. Right after 9/11, a bill which had previously been unthinkable had an opening and became law without enough public discussion at a time when emotions were running too high.
I haven’t heard this before. As bad as the PATRIOT act is, the fact that it was considered before the 9/11 attacks is far worse. There were plans in place to limit civil liberties before the catastrophic attack? So rather than a hastily assembled fix to a problem we don’t have, it was more deliberate attempt to undermine democracy, waiting for our representatives to let their guard down. I hope that’s not the case.
<update> looks like I was a tad behind the curve on this. The bill was largely done, but had yet to be named and required a catalyst. The WTC attacks were all that was needed.
In fact, much of the content of the Patriot Act was based on a report by the bi-partisan Hart-Rudman Commission on National Security/21st Century, issued on September 15, 1999[3], two years before 9/11. Concerns about the need for war in the Middle East to protect U.S. interests and sources of oil, and possible public distaste for such a program, had been brewing for some time.
t r u t h o u t – EDITORIAL – Jennifer Van Bergen | The USA PATRIOT Act Was Planned Before 9/11:
Many people do not know that the USA PATRIOT Act was already written and ready to go long before September 11th. Recent criticism of Bush’s admission that he had received warnings only weeks before September 11th has made it more important to understand the origins of the USAPA.
The USA PATRIOT Act – the so-called “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001,” a.k.a. the USAPA — was enacted in the immediate wake of 9/11, riding a wave of fear that spread over the nation. This Act has caused much concern amongst civil rights advocates. The Administration, however, responded to such concerns by calling critics unpatriotic. Now, the White House has had a similar response to critics of Bush’s recent admission of early warnings.
fn2. Jim Cornehis. “The USA Patriot Act. The assault on civil liberties.” Z Magazine, July/August 2003, Volume 16 Number 7/8, p.35
fn3. United States Commission on National Security/21. “New World Coming: American Security in the 21st Century.”. September 15, 1999. http://www.nssg.gov.