Intellectual Defenestration

Nothing about the Passion here

Although there's all sorts of interesting stuff out there, I've decided to hold off on anything more on the Passion until I actually see it. So, I'm going to post on something a little less controversial: the Patriot Act. Hehehehe.

No, really. Wired interviewed Viet Dinh, one of the architects of the Patriot Act. Amid all the fear of the Patriot Act, it's always good to hear "the other side", just to make sure the facts are straight.

While there is obviously an image being projected, Viet Dinh does not come across as a power-hungry, civil-liberties-trampling, neo-Nazi. He's mainly interested in clarifying much of what he terms misconceptions. And he makes repeated calls for open dialogue on the act. If Viet Dinh, Ashcroft, GWB and others really were the jackbooted thugs that Michael Moore & co. assert that they are, it seems they wouldn't bother as much with trying to appear to be respecters of civil liberties.

The bizarre thing about democracy is that I really don't know what I'm talking about here. I have very little technical legal knowledge, I have not read the actual act, and I probably wouldn't be able to make much sense of it if I did. But, I'm supposed to make reasonably informed voting decisions this year.

February 24, 2004 10:08 AM