Weigel

PATRIOT Act Sails Through House

At CPAC, I mentioned to Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., that last week’s PATRIOT Act was a nice little victory, and that upcoming votes on it would be exciting. He disputed my characterization. “We know it’ll pass,” he said.

And indeed it did. Authorization passed with only 27 Republican and 117 Democratic no votes. There wasn’t much switching since last week. A Democratic effort to pass a motion to recommit failed with every Democrat in support, joined by the lonely Ron Paul and Walter Jones; they wanted expedited review for cases of possible constitutional violations. And so the bill gets kicked to the Senate, where Rand Paul is waiting, sharpening a knife like Karen Black at the end of the voodoo doll segment of Trilogy of Terror.*

*possibly less horrifying than this