I’ve got gun grabbers to the left of me, voyeurs to the right.
In the wake of the Orlando shooting, politicos of both the Republican and Democratic persuasion scrambled to apply Rahm Emanuel’s salient advice.
“Never let a crisis go to waste.”
Right wingers filled my Facebook newsfeed with complaints about the lefty gun-grabbers exploiting the tragedy to advance their unconstitutional gun control agenda. I’ve weighed in on the debate myself, explaining how even with the repeal of the Second Amendment, the federal government would still lack any authority to regulate firearms.
Meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. Senate did a little tragedy exploitation of their own. On Monday, Sen. Mitch McConnell set up a vote on an amendment to a criminal justice appropriations bill that would expand the FBI’s authority to use unconstitutional national security letters (NSLs).
Federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI issue these administrative subpoenas with no judicial oversight to gather information for “national security purposes.” NSLs require the entity served to provide any information requested and they usually include gag orders prohibiting the recipient from revealing any information about the order. They can even prohibit the recipient from consulting with an attorney. Last month, a federal court ruled NSLs constitutional, an poignant reminder not to count on part of the federal government to protect your rights from the federal government.
The proposed amendment would allow the FBI to use these secretive surveillance orders without a warrant to gather email metadata and some browsing history information. Sen. John McCain sponsored the amendment.
In the wake of the tragic massacre in Orlando, it is important our law enforcement have the tools they need to conduct counterterrorism investigations.”
In other words, “I’m going to trample on the Constitution to protect you from the bad guys.”
Ironically, this sounds a lot like the lefty gun-grabbers who want to trample on the Constitution to protect you from the bad guys.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren trotted out the Democratic version of the exact same rhetoric after Republicans blocked gun control measures. She accused Republicans of choosing to “sell weapons to ISIS.”
It’s the same fear, just a different scream.
Feature Photo by DonkeyHotey via Flickr
