while you were sleeping

PATRIOT Watch: You were probably like me thinking “what ever happened to PATRIOT II, it sure dropped off the face of the earth quickly…” Well, turns out that several provisions of USAPA II were rolled into Intelligence Authorization Act for fiscal 2004. All Republicans but 15 voted for this. Some enterprising bloggers have decided to try to reward these congressmen for breaking with tradition and doing the right thing. In my world, that’s what my mother called “paying you to stay out of jail” but it is an interesting idea. [explolibrary]