[Political Post]
As soon as I turned 18, I registered as a Republican, and even watched Fox News. It’s no secret that I was an officer, at the age of 18, of the Tulsa Young Republicans, and even traveled to the national convention as a delegate to vote for the new president of the national organization. In my first presidential election in 2004, I voted for Bush’s second term. I campaigned for conservative city counselors, and even had a chance to meet Dick Cheney. To be fair, I couldn’t understand how anyone thought that liberal ideals were worth having, as they were obviously a waste of money.
Despite my almost religious belief in the conservative platform, there was one thing that never quite felt right with me, and that was the Patriot Act. Despite the attacks on 9/11, I couldn’t see the justification in giving the government almost unlimited power to spy on and collect private data on nearly anyone they saw fit, all through the guise of secret court orders, which even our representatives and leaders had no access to. I read the original document cover to cover, and reported on it in class. At that time, I was enrolled in TCC, and one of my favorite teachers was a history teacher who, if I remember correctly, was a Vietnam veteran. He was an extremely liberal hippy with strong convictions who was also very confrontational. That being said, he was fair. He loved to argue, but would concede to a good point when one was made. Needless to say, we disagreed most of the time, so when I explained that I was going to do a report over the Patriot Act, he was rather excited. He thought of so many points to tear my report apart. He thought of all the different ways in which the program could be abused.
When I walked into class, he was so excited to tear apart my report, but when I finished giving the presentation, he was completely speechless. All the points that he had thought of to counter my argument were the very same points that I had chosen to report over.
So, why am I saying this. Mostly, it’s because my belief that the Patriot Act is a terrible program has actually grown stronger. Don’t get me wrong. Not every clause in the act is terrible, but the sections and clauses that enable massive surveillance of American citizens without due cause are troubling, to say the very least.
What’s more troubling is that recently, talk has all but stopped about this issue. It’s a very complex issue, and many people have no idea what is really going on. I think John Oliver has a good approach to explain it.
I recommend that you get yourself educated, and contact your representatives. It’s very important that they hear our voices! The current expiration on this set of controversial provisions is June 1. So, let your congressmen know before then!