Frightening Day in the US House of Representatives

The Supreme Court may have thwarted the President's attempts to establish executive power to arrest and detain indefinitely anyone (even US citizens) anywhere without charging them with a crime and without giving them access to a lawyer or a hearing in court. However, basic democratic freedoms are still under threat.

Today the House of Representatives voted on whether to repeal the part of the Patriot Act that allows Federal Authorities to monitor the reading selections and internet behavior of US citizens at libraries. A coalition of Democrats and Libertarian Republicans had accumulated a majority of the votes in favor of removing this power. However, in an unusual procedural move, the Republican House leadership held the voting open for an additional 20 minutes after the normal 15 minute time period had expired. Meanwhile the Republican leaders pressured Libertarian Republicans to change their votes. Ten Libertarians changed the votes and the bill failed 210-210. While the voting was held open, Democrats chanted "Shame Shame Shame" loudly on the floor.

I see this as more evidence that there is an opportunity for the Democratic party to set up a coalition of progressives and libertarians.

Also, this should be a clear warning to everyone that the recent Supreme Court rulings were merely one battle in the "war" to defend the basic rights of US citizens. Habeas Corpus rights have been defended but now the freedom of speech and association is under attack.