Politics

USA Patriot Act Repealed

Eight years after being enacted, and three years after being reauthorized, the controversial USA Patriot Act was repealed by Congress by a vote of 99 to 1 in the Senate and 520 to 18 in the House.

No fanfare greeted the repeal in either house. Absent were the 40-minute speeches and foam-core charts predicting Armageddon. The act was repealed with a simple vote cast late in the day by a Congress ashamed of what it had done and what the Act had meant for Americans.

In related news, Congress yesterday repealed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and agreed to permanently shelve the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act. “These acts were worded in such a way that they could be interpreted to equate political dissent with terrorism. In any case none of these bills did a thing to protect Americans,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Most past supporters of the act refused comment, but Senator Jon Kyl (R-AR) explained his lone vote to retain the Act: “I wish I could say I was as principled as Russ Feingold [the only Senator who opposed the Patriot Act in 2001], but the truth is that I had too much wine at lunch, hit the wrong button, and then was too inebriated to notice. I hope my constituents, who overwhelmingly wanted me to vote for the bill’s repeal, will forgive me.”

61 Comments so far ...

1. (n)

I’m surprised that Sen. Palin (R-AK) took some time away from her shopping to make it back to the Senate floor to vote.

Comment on November 12, 2008 04:17 pm
2. julia

Um, how did it pass by 520-18 in the House when there are only 435 House members?

Comment on November 12, 2008 05:36 pm
3. Katherine

Palin is Governor of Alaska, not a senator, if you really paid attention to politics, (n), you would know that.

Comment on November 12, 2008 08:10 pm
4. Stefano

Palin is Governor of Alaska, but there is a very good chance she’ll be the junior senator by July 4th 2009…

Comment on November 12, 2008 08:26 pm
5. Adam

And if you really, really paid attention to politics, you would know that Senator Stevens of Alaska is likely to step down after he was convicted of several crimes related to his office. Governor Palin will choose the replacement and most people think she will choose herself.

Comment on November 12, 2008 08:46 pm
6. Pete

Good riddance to the Protect America Act as well!

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:50 am

Why no mention of the PNAC (Plan for a New American Century)?
9/11 was the “catalyzing event” in said project, “like a new Pearl Harbor”. In order to repeal the Patriot Act first we must unmask false flag state sponsored terrorism.
At first I was thrilled by this release.
But then I realized the content is still “oficial versión”.
Where is the article about the Federal Reserve, Private Central Banks, Fractional Reserve Banking, The Rothschild Dynasty, 9/11 Truth, Censored Technologies in Energy, Medicine, etc..? This looks like an Inside Job to me. A Michael Moore type job to keep well intentioned persons from waking up totally.

Comment on November 13, 2008 06:13 am
8. Gerd Naumann

I don’t get you Americans! May be you are not REALLY familiar with political satire, like we Europeans are since..what ever.
I translate the message for all of you: Get rid of the patriot act! If you can’t or won’t, shame on you!
A supposedly “democracy” needs citizens who do something for the better. What did you do while they where pulling off this hilarious optimistic web site???

Comment on November 13, 2008 08:30 am
9. Corey

I love that Katherine hasn’t figured out that this is pretend, and supposed to be the future. Think about how stupid she must be to come to this website, see the headlines (”Iraq War Ends,” “Public Universities Free”), open this thread, and be like “OMG, Palin isn’t a senator!” I’m seriously blown away by her stupidity. That made my day.

Comment on November 13, 2008 11:55 am
10. Marine Iraq War Vet

Remember 9/11?

Comment on November 13, 2008 12:11 pm
11. Concerned Citizen

9/11? why, yes . . yes I do. Inside job meant to spark a war footing in the public consciousness. Worked, didn’t it ;-)

Comment on November 13, 2008 12:25 pm
12. Jill N.

Thanks for this … who remembers The Realist magazine? Witty, sly, satirical, subversive. Yes!

Comment on November 13, 2008 12:56 pm
13. sara

Thank You.

Comment on November 13, 2008 01:56 pm
14. Jane M

Oh, SYBIL LUDINGTON
(Published: July 4th, 2009 ) If only this would come to be! I would feel like an American again. Well this and the reversal of most of the”measures” passed by the Bush administration.

Comment on November 13, 2008 02:51 pm
15. Chris

Aren’t there only 435 members in the HoR?

Comment on November 13, 2008 03:13 pm
16. PolicyWhore

Kyl is a lush, but not an effete one. Wine at lunch? That man does Tequila shots for breakfast.

Comment on November 13, 2008 03:33 pm
17. robert usis

Katherine, it’s true. Palin is the Governor of Alaska…today. But on July 9th…then Stefano is really really close…and Adam, first Palin would have to step down as Governor, and the Lt Governor could appoint her as Ted Stevens’ replacement to the Senate when the LG assumes the governship. I don’t believe she can appoint herself.

To Julia and Chris, yes there are only 435 members of the HoR. In this fictional account, which serves to show how truly lopsided a repeal vote of the Patriot Act should be, they let some congressman vote twice.

Comment on November 13, 2008 04:24 pm
18. G Leary

What the Patriot Act should have taught you is that the government is not a very good institution. But nooooo. You morons want it to run your health care and educate your children. “Yeah, I hate Bush, but I want him involved in my college!” But now we will have a “nice” president, who will push around other people. Great. But don’t complain when it swings back and you get another Bush administration. As long as you give so much power to the government, it will be abused.

And who is to pay for all this?

What a bunch of children.

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:25 pm
19. Scott

In recent years, civil rights were getting better, the Patriot Act is just one of the steps the governments of the world are using to take away the fundamental rights of their citizens.

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:28 pm
20. David

Yes, Marine, I do remember 9/11. I was seeing children out of school and it was obvious that many mums and dads were in a state of shock. Where? London ,England, U.K….I rushed home and turned on the t.v. and watched in horror…and with the realisation that this was just the excuse Bush needed to continue his father’s work.

Afghanistan …okay…Iraq…no… I remember the lies and sycophantic fawning of Blair and it sickened me to my stomach. But then so did his, obviously, false speech on the death of Princess Diana.

I remember the horror that I felt when I heard of the Patriot Act. from over here. I think it goes against everything that Revere and company represented. Whilst I’m on this tack…so does the attempt of the Christian Right (which, I’ve heard it said by Americans, is neither) to join together “Church and State” go against what the writers of your constitution sought.

Come to think of it…the right to bear arms…..this has long outlived it’s purpose and might perhaps be usefully revised. But I’m a mere Brit…what do I know?

Oh yes. In another comment I referred to my father, the cowman, he had to leave school at 14 but by golly it was fun, when I was kid to see and hear him discuss your history with your countrymen. He always knew more than them and they, would more often than not, come back saying, “Let me buy you a drink. What you told me..(whenever)..is true. How did you know that?”, “Reading books and talking to people like you!”

I managed to visit The Alamo last year… found out that there was a possibly (very) distant relative of mine there…that is a story worth researching ‘cos most of the legends are just that! Take noting from them because they died fighting for what they, for the most part, believed was right.

Which brings us back to Iraq..which I don’t believe was or is right.

Comment on November 13, 2008 05:28 pm
21. Mauro

Sarah Palin will not replace the Very Senior Senator from Alaska because, heh, Mark Begich will have gotten more votes. (:

Comment on November 13, 2008 06:49 pm

[...] e no site “clone” do NYT, também feito pelo Yes Men, há matérias como “Patriot Act derrubado!“, “Harvard fechará portas da escola de economia” e “Fundo de petróleo [...]

Pingback on November 13, 2008 08:02 pm
23. Howard

Julia, Robert–

Perhaps the extra members of the House of Representatives come from the new states of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, and all of the former provinces of Canada except Ontario and Quebec.

Comment on November 13, 2008 08:10 pm
24. gerbels

i am so excited!

Comment on November 13, 2008 08:38 pm
25. a.goldman

Did you all sleep through the last eight months? “Senator Stevens”? “Senator Palin”?!?! EX-Senator Stevens is now in jail for his felonies. Governor Palin is, thankfully, far far away doing whatever it is “mavericks” do. Senator BEGICH voted to repeal the Patriot Act along with the virtually unanimous body of the Senate. As did Senator Franken, for that matter.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/begich-leads-by-814-going-into-thursday.html

Comment on November 13, 2008 09:38 pm
26. A M Smith

When this happens I will throw the biggest damn party.

Comment on November 14, 2008 12:05 am
27. Powderhorn

When did Jon Kyl move to Arkansas?

Comment on November 14, 2008 01:57 am
28. reddragon696

If this ever did come to pass it would go a long ways towards restoring the Civil & Constitutional Rights we lost under the bush Regime.

Comment on November 14, 2008 05:19 am
29. Jabez Wilson

This whole paper would be just be a dream to read if it were all true. I could do without the closing of Harvard Business School, but if that’s what it took to achieve the other things, then what they hay…

Comment on November 14, 2008 08:32 am
30. Jason

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is actually good. It protects people and their families from being threatened or hurt simply because their jobs require them to use animals for research. Wake up! Animal research saves lives.

Comment on November 14, 2008 09:50 am
31. John

You guys are all left wing loons, the only people who have anything to worry about are the ones who have something to hide. Certain demented comments here have highlighted the average IQ (or lack thereof) of readers here…

Comment on November 14, 2008 01:03 pm

[...] New York this week, is now on the web. Genius, sad, tragic all at the same time! Looking forward to this coming [...]

Pingback on November 14, 2008 03:26 pm
33. libertyanne

John:
What ever happened to small government conservatism? I’m tired of this pretense that this is still a free country. We are losing freedoms every day because too many people have your attitude.

By the way I have lots of things to hide. My private conversations, what I do in my bedroom, who I decide to marry, books I read and groups I support. The Government is constantly sticking its nose in every facet of our lives. All of our actions are being put in data bases. Why are they monitering peaceful people?
Peace groups are being put on terrorist watch lists and private conversations being monitered between soldiers and thier loved ones even if they contain nothing wrong. Hopefully Obama will reverse some of these disgusting intrusions in our lives.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:21 pm
34. libertyanne

What a shame this is only a “hoax”

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:25 pm
35. David

libertyanne
Join the club,,the Blair government and its successors over here have gradually chipped away at our liberties and on top have encouraged the majority to abdicate their responsibilities for the bringing up of their children….15 hours a day child care after the age of two years? Paid for by the state!

Not much difference between the right and the left.

Comment on November 14, 2008 06:42 pm

A mentira reina está a ser vitoriosa, C.I.A casa inicio armagedão:

O esconderijo da figura da maldade, o buraco da sua maldade encoberto e bem dissimulado engana todos, a figura da maldade prepara a sua grande ofensiva, a figura da maldade tem de novo reunido os seus exércitos.

A figura da maldade já domina as quatro entradas, os quatro caminhos já são dominados pelas quatro faces do seu poder, a obra da figura da maldade e da sua mentira estão a dar o resultado, o objectivo da figura da maldade está a ser concretizado, os seguidores da figura da maldade estão a ser manipulados sem dar conta da estratégia bem delineada pela figura da maldade, o seu plano é maquiavélico e hediondo.

A grandeza da figura da maldade encobre a todos o seu plano maquiavélico e hediondo, quem se julga protegido por estar perto da figura da maldade não conhece o seu grande plano, quem é protegido e seguidor da figura da maldade não escapa ao seu plano hediondo.

A figura da maldade usa todos e tudo para alcançar o seu objectivo, a figura da maldade arquitecta e planeia estratégias bem elaboradas, a figura da maldade extermina e cria catástrofes produzidas e arquitectadas por ele, para assim conseguir chegar ao seu objectivo final, a figura a maldade não olha a meios para alcançar os seus objectivos traçados, a morte mesmo para os seus protegidos não tem importância a figura da maldade só tem um objectivo, ser o grande o maior dominador sobre todas as formas de vida.

A figura da maldade já tentou por em pratica o seu grande e elaborado plano, a figura da maldade falhou e foi travado, agora a figura da maldade tenta de novo por em pratica o seu grande plano, a figura da maldade conseguiu reunir de novo o seu vasto e bem elaborado plano, mas agora o seu grande plano está mas evoluído e o seu poder mais sólido.

As mentiras da figura da maldade enganam todos, C.I.A casa inicio armagedão.

Comment on November 14, 2008 08:00 pm
37. left coast

Freedom of the press means freedom to OWN the press.

Comment on November 14, 2008 08:00 pm
38. Rene Boeve

Oh, Happy Day! The “Patriot Act” has ALWAYS smelled too much like Hitlers
Germany!

Comment on November 15, 2008 09:18 pm

Viva La Revolución

Comment on November 16, 2008 01:28 pm

HR1955/S1959 Ya hooo! Patriot Act about time. This is the kind of news we really want to read!

Comment on November 16, 2008 06:21 pm

Kyl is also a senator from Arizona (AZ), not Arkansas. If you insist on acting like satirists, then please at least get your facts straight.

Comment on November 16, 2008 07:55 pm
42. 46664

Jurrasicdork: Satire has little to do with fact. Actually, it is responsible of the site to get the ‘facts’ wrong, so that there is no mistake about it’s lack of validity.

I like the ads…nicely done!

Comment on November 16, 2008 10:48 pm
43. Ranter

This reminds me of the way Rant.com presents the news, with the quips at the end, except its actual real news.

Comment on November 17, 2008 08:31 pm
44. umm

obviously this is fake…. it was published in 2009. wow! yay for Americans!

Comment on November 18, 2008 11:43 pm
45. Charlie Rose

If you were paying attention, “Senator” Palin was a joke - it’s July, 2009 you idiots. Having said that, I’ve gotten everything else wrong. Don’t waste your time watching my show.

Comment on November 19, 2008 09:49 am

It’s about time.

Comment on November 19, 2008 09:48 pm
47. Daniel

You Americans never learned from history…you gave up your civil rights for what? Look at what Josef Goebbels said at the Nuremberg Trials: All you have to do is to tell the people they are threatened by terrorists and dafame the pacifists for lack of patriotism and they all will follow you in a war!
And your attitude towards other cultures doesn’t help either…I mean look at your Christian radicals. They are the same as the muslim radicals except that it’s another religion. And thinking that creationism should be taught in biology along with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is ridiculous. Aren’t there also classes for religious education?
The only hope for America are the left-winged people in your country…at least they can think in a rational way!
And BTW I love this fake NYTimes because it shows what is wrong about this country and what has to be changed.
regards from old europe;)

Comment on November 20, 2008 10:17 pm
48. anonymous

joy to the world!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment on November 29, 2008 12:45 am

“USA Patriot Act Repealed”

one month later

“Terrorists attack on US soil, again”

Comment on November 30, 2008 01:05 pm
50. gmknobl

John’s a moron. The average IQ is higher here ’cause most of us are liberals!

Seriously though, John likes using the same reasoning real fascists like Stalin and Hitler used, just as the rest or the right-sided neocons use. Sure, we who are smart and actually criticize our government out of true patriotism have nothing to fear and they lock people up in prisons for simply using free speech. Substitute liberal or progressive or gay for any of the end words where appropriate - it need not be Nazis either but neocons or republicans or even democrats. John, you either are or support fascism.

First they came for the…

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
————Pastor Martin Niemöller

Comment on December 1, 2008 02:59 pm

Congress raised the number of members in the House… that was in the previous edition… they cited the need for more inner city Representatives and instituted a non-proportionate system for creating House seats because it was just so messy with having to actually represent so many people - so they made it easier for some and harder for others… rural districts and those that don’t vote with the majority keep their old sizes, but new districts get the enhanced ‘efficiency’ sized districts.

Really one must keep up with these ‘advancements’.

Comment on December 19, 2008 10:38 pm
52. Gaulpilsosuxurrerne

qiqalkptuydxflacwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch ;)

Comment on January 3, 2009 12:56 pm
53. SunGuard

How can this have been published in July 2009 when it is only January 2009? Is this a fake article and a fake website?

Comment on January 19, 2009 04:48 pm
54. Effeledug

Was ist das?

Comment on March 20, 2009 04:37 pm
55. Sgt. Toldyaso

To the people that think that only the people hidding something need freedom and privacy, please email me your bank account number , SS number , all financial information from your family, all of your call logs and recordings,family photos,family videos, all of your phone bills,blood sample,hair sample,naked pictures of all angles and medical records because you have nothing to hide, and by using your logic you have no use for any type of privacy from the general public, the government or anything that you can think of or anyone else can think of since you are very limited in that department.

Comment on April 16, 2009 10:58 am

I agree with most of you, but only a small few truly understand the depths of history and how thin of a line we currently walk. The Patriot Act is just a piece of the whole construct that has been in development since the dawn of intellectual man. As greg grisham mentioned previously documents like PNAC, Operation Northwoods, Operation Mongoose, Operation Northern Vigilance, etc… are openly available to the public. These documents tell a very clear story about the progression of CIA influence in power and how it clearly ties into The Patriot Act. So throw any label you want on it (conspiracy, liberal, facist, socialist, communist, whatever) but none of use wrote those documents, they proudly signed them. Your implied “right to privacy” is only worth the research and action you back it up with.

Comment on May 12, 2009 03:39 am
57. Filip Musial

Wow! What a day for all my american friends: Patriot Act was repealed, Public Health Insurance was intalled and the both combat missions in Iraq were officially stopped! GOOD JOB GUYS!

Your canadian friend!

Comment on June 25, 2009 11:17 am
58. J.J. VanPoelvoorde

This half-assed joke is iresponcible, and only goes to show that the New York Times no longer deserves its reputation as high quality newspaper.
Just plain stupid. Does Sybil ludington actually get paid to write this crap?

Comment on July 21, 2009 01:25 pm
59. J.J. VanPoelvoorde

You assholes fooled me! But that’s my point, this bullshit looks just like the real New york Times website. You think you’re being funny but you are misrepresenting a real news source. People read this and they either believe the stories, and have therefore been lied to, or realize its a joke in which case they think the Times is writing fucking joke articles like its turned into the Onion. You guys are a bunch of fucking assholes. what do you want from us? a biscuit for writing how things should be instead of how they are? You suck. I hope you all get hit by cars.

Comment on July 21, 2009 11:12 pm

Help me fight FBI abuse of powers!

See my reports of Federal Corruption @ http://WWW.Congress.Org

Comment on January 24, 2010 01:07 pm
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