Thursday, May 25, 2006

Damn Government....

Well, it seems that the legislature has gotten a taste of their own medicine, and it doesn't look like they like it.

Bear in mind that I am an Astronomy grad student, so anything contained in this blog is pure speculation.

Anyway, it seems to me that the FBI's actions could VERY WELL fall under the jurisdiction of the Patriot Act. (Jill, other people of the legal persuasian, could you comment on this?) The senator (Jefferson, I think is his name) had been caught in a bribery scheme to bribe some Nigerian government official. Nigeria is in Africa, which is kinda close to the middle east (a lot closer than we are, anyway), which is a hot-bed of terrorism, right? So, couldn't the FBI claim that they were acting to protect our government from a terrorist threat?

I know, it's a bit of a stretch, but not an extreme one. The lawmakers are all up-in-arms about this "breach of the Constitution" when they have repeatedly used this hallowed document to wipe the mud from their boots after mucking around with our Civil Rights.

I agree, they should be upset at this over-stepping of constitutional powers, but I am really finding it hard to feel pity for them. After all, they basically gave the FBI a carte blanche.

Silly people...

1 comment:

J said...

People much more versed than I am on the subject of searches are blogging about it. This is one of my favorite sights:
http://www.volokh.com/archives/archive_2006_05_21-2006_05_27.shtml#1148514862

(the congressional leaders who are complaining about this are more interested in covering their bippy than in protecting anybody's civil liberties)