C-SPAN Today
First let me say that Brian Lamb is hands down my favorite Republican. He lives what he believes. And he believes in the founding fathers. He went from serving in the Nixon administration to conceiving of and creating C-SPAN, bringing a new level of openness to Government. If, by any chance, you are unfamiliar with Mr. Lamb's work, here is a lauditory overview of the kind of work he does on screen.

That was merely an aside. But you should know that I am a C-SPAN junky, especially on weekends. From time to time obscure C-SPAN references may appear here. Today is one of those times.

This morning Barbara Comstock of the Public Information Office of the Department of Justice was on yakking about all of the lovely laws that are giving the DOJ an increased ability to surveil us. Their web site says that the Office of Public Information is "responsible for ensuring that the public is informed about the Department's activities and about the priorities and policies of the Attorney General and the President with regard to law enforcement and legal affairs."

After a time with the aptly named Ms. Comstock I feel so informed. She was practically glowing while explaining that PATRIOT I was just so helpful to the Department while not in any way harming US citizens. It just brought a few details of the law up to date. If you want some interesting reading you can peruse the Department's report to the Congress on the Act's implementation.

Apparently all of you who were worried about civil liberties were misguided. According to the above report: " Number of complaints received suggesting Patriot Act-related civil rights or civil liberties connection: 783" Bah. Practically nothing.

Ms. Comstock also addressed Patriot II. She seemed very distraught about the leakage of an "early draft" and how we had all misunderstood their intent.

I better go. I'm feeling all misty.