We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Tea Party and civil liberties

by Glenn Greenwald from Salon. 

This constitutional lawyer is not as ecstatic over yesterday's vote which failed to extend three provisions of the Patriot Act as are many liberals in the US.
I'm ultimately quite pessimistic about its ability to produce any meaningful benefits in the near future.  That's because there are far too many impulses among ostensibly "limited government" conservatives which conflict with -- and ultimately negate -- any possibility for meaningful civil liberties defenses.
He provides a close examination and analysis of the vote in which liberals and Tea Party Republicans combined to defeat the extensions.
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