I’ve been emotionally exhausted by the illegal wiretapping shit thats been flying, to the extent that I didn’t know what to say that wasn’t completely obvious, and been too out of it with some throat virus to post anything. But the failed filibuster on Alito and Arlen Specter’s (R-Va) terrifying provision to the Patriot Act woke my ass up today.

Alito is likely going to be confirmed, and in time for the State of the Union address. More jingoist cheerleading bullshit to endure. The Dems couldn’t get their shit together enough to prevent a cloture vote.

And now, Arlen Specter has added a provision to the Patriot Act that would allow authorities to haul demonstrators at any “special event of national significance” away to jail on felony charges if they are caught breaching a security perimeter.
While under normal circumstances and under a government that didn’t continually terrify me with it’s sweeping violations of human rights, this would seem reasonable. A restricted area *should* be protected. But I have no doubt that these days, a secure area can be classified as anywhere within miles of the event. Or even worse, that an area could be declared secure post facto, thus conveniently making anyone, anytime, anywhere at risk of felony charges.

Achtung, motherf*ckers. Chairman Bush knows what’s best for us by listening in to our calls. The innocent have nothing to worry about, so if you’re worried about it, you must be a terrorist, QED. And if you want to protest any of this live and in person, well watch out, because the men in dark sunglasses will haul your ass to a secret gulag and you’ll likely never be heard from again.