Fourth Amendment Republicans

Matt Welch | January 18, 2006

Conservatives Bob Barr, Grover Norquist, David Keene, Paul Weyrich, and Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottleib have founded Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, which is "an organization dedicated to protecting Americans' fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment and ensuring that all provisions of the Patriot Act are in line with the Constitution." Today, they're calling on Congress "to hold open, substantive oversight hearings examining the President's authorization of the National Security Agency (NSA) to violate domestic surveillance requirements."

Quotable:

"The need to reform surveillance laws and practices adopted since 9/11 is more apparent now than ever. No one would deny the government the power it needs to protect us all, but when that power poses a threat to the basic rights that make our nation unique, its exercise must be carefully monitored by Congress and the courts. This is not a partisan issue; it is an issue of safeguarding the fundamental freedoms of all Americans so that future administrations do not interpret our laws in ways that pose constitutional concerns." -- David Keene, chairman, American Conservative Union

Press release here; link via Duncan Black.

Jesse Walker interviewed Barr for Reason's December 2003 issue.

Comments

|1.18.06 @ 2:52PM|#

What a bunch of liberal kooks!

|1.18.06 @ 2:52PM|#

the basic rights that make our nation unique
Meaning that only the US guarantees such rights to its citizens or that only US citizens can possibly have such rights?

jimmy|1.18.06 @ 3:00PM|#

i would have loved to see you guys in the 40s, defending the right of americans to take phone calls from hitler or tojo.

Warren|1.18.06 @ 3:12PM|#

Yeah well, if they manage to get something repealed I'll be dancing. Until then, don't even start the music.

|1.18.06 @ 3:16PM|#

"i would have loved to see you guys in the 40s, defending the right of americans to take phone calls from hitler or tojo."

Wow, how long did it take you to put that straw man together?

Or do you just have it set as a macro key on your keyboard so you don't even have to think before hurling a steaming load of clueless invective?

|1.18.06 @ 3:18PM|#

"Meaning that only the US guarantees such rights to its citizens or that only US citizens can possibly have such rights?"

Yeah, because if they can't bring individual liberty to every human on the face of the planet, they're just a bunch of fascist assholes!

|1.18.06 @ 3:19PM|#

Is this serious?
It will be when it starts recommanding sniper rifles, along with instructions on how to and advertising for sniper teachers, plus names, pictures and home and business addresses of all Federal elected officials, their staff and all buearocrats.
Plus advice on the best home defense rifles and shotguns.
Until then, no, its not serious.

|1.18.06 @ 3:21PM|#

Where does someone like Jimmy come from? Bush could have gotten warrants. He lied in April 2004 and said he had. But he hadn't, and thereby broke the law by placing himself above the law. How does a concern for the Constitution and the law equal support for Hitler and Tojo?

Oppression, like all slavery, is both immoral and bad policy, as history from the Roman Empire to the USSR attests.

|1.18.06 @ 3:27PM|#

"Where does someone like Jimmy come from?"

I suspect he crawled out of the ocean earlier this morning, after evolving a couple of fingers that he can use to hunt 'n' peck his way around a keyboard.

|1.18.06 @ 3:37PM|#

You've got to give them a little credit. Their site is the only one that I've visited that had links to the ACLU, American Conservative Union and the Libertarian Party. Not to mention a bunch of other groups that usually avoid one another like the plague.

I think that this issue is similar to the "Kelo" (eminent domain) issue in that it could bring together some diverse groups and individuals for a common and positive cause. But probably not...

|1.18.06 @ 3:43PM|#

MayDay72 wrote "I think that this issue is similar to the "Kelo" (eminent domain) issue in that it could bring together some diverse groups and individuals..."
And what has happened since? NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING. ON THE CONTRARY MY CITIES AND TOWNS ARE TAKING PRIVATE PROPERTY AND GIVING IT TO ANOTHER PRIVATE ENTITY, STEALING.
NOTHING IS STOPPING THEM ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT SAID THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING. SHITSTAIN FUCKING COWARDS.

|1.18.06 @ 3:48PM|#

It should be ovbvious now. The only way to stop the Federal Government, meaning the buearocrats and politicans, from elminating out freedoms, meaning stealing from us and making us slaves, is by putting bullets, .45 caliber or 12 gauge shotgun preferable, right between their eyes.
That is the one and only way to stop them and secure our freedom. If you think not, you are a fool, you have your head up your ass.
Bloody revolution is the only way now.

|1.18.06 @ 3:53PM|#

Terry,

Please don't confuse "bring together" with "actually do something useful." I guess that I should have made it clear that my "but probably not" statement referred to the eminent domain issue as well. I should write my congressman when I get home. Or maybe I'll just sit in front of the tee-vee and consume unhealthy food and drink...

|1.18.06 @ 4:08PM|#

If anyone's really curious about Jimmy, they can click on his name link and go to his blog, with a picture, biography and everything.

|1.18.06 @ 4:17PM|#

"NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING. ON THE CONTRARY MY CITIES AND TOWNS ARE TAKING PRIVATE PROPERTY AND GIVING IT TO ANOTHER PRIVATE ENTITY, STEALING.
NOTHING IS STOPPING THEM ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT SAID THEY WOULD DO SOMETHING. SHITSTAIN FUCKING COWARDS."

Whoah, there, cowboy. You're getting spit on my monitor.

|1.18.06 @ 4:41PM|#

The need to reform surveillance laws and practices adopted since 9/11 is more apparent now than ever. No one would deny the government the power it needs to protect us all, but when that power poses a threat to the basic rights that make our nation unique, its exercise must be carefully monitored by Congress and the courts.

I understand reforming Patriot Act, etc. so that it complies with the Constitution. ...I don't get the suggestion that surveillance laws need to be reformed because the President broke them. Why didn't the President ask for the laws to be changed?

...Maybe he did, and I just missed it? Did the President ask to change FISA? ...before we found out about him breaking the law, I mean?

|1.18.06 @ 4:48PM|#

I remember Alan Gottlieb as a Nixon/Agnew loving proto-neocon at the University of Washington (circa 1972). He was a leader in Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) that shared student office space with the Libertarian Study Group I was in.

Except on the issues of taxes and guns, back then, Gottlieb had no problem with big brother government. If this is the same Alan Gottlieb, all I can say is: You've come a long way, Baby!

|1.18.06 @ 10:22PM|#

This is my Republican Party! Pres. Bush; please leave.

|1.19.06 @ 12:34AM|#

What I meant was:

"Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances"

This is my Republican Party!

|1.19.06 @ 2:24PM|#

Grover Norquist had the temerity to represent the Council of American-Islamic Relations, a moderate Muslim group, and state as far back as 2002 that being Muslim didn't actually make them terrorists. For this, he has been slapped around repeatedly by people like David Horowitz.

Grover Norquist, a conservative who's been mugged by reality.

|1.19.06 @ 5:58PM|#

Hey Jimmy-- Ford WAS taking calls from Hitler.

i would have loved to see you guys in the 40s, defending the right of americans to take phone calls from hitler or tojo.

Comment by: jimmy at January 18, 2006 03:00 PM