Montana Calls It: Patriot Act Unpatriotic

There's a fortunate political wind blowing back in the Big Sky State this year. As we've mentioned before, although Montana went for Bush in the last election, they also elected a Democratic governor and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate for the first time in decades. Now they've passed a resolution (with bipartisan support, no less) which condemns the Patriot Act.

Senate Joint Resolution 19, sponsored by Sen. Jim Elliott, D-Trout Creek, says that while the 2005 Legislature supports the federal government's fight against terrorism, the so-called Patriot Act of 2001 granted authorities sweeping powers
that violate citizens' rights enshrined in both the U.S. and Montanan constitutions.

. . . "Sometimes we just take liberty for granted in the country," said Rep. Roger Koopman, R-Bozeman, who keeps a plant called "the Liberty Tree" on his legislative desk. Koopman said his Liberty Tree was "blooming for this bill."

It's refreshing to see Montana Republicans actually standing up for the stuff Republicans are supposed to stand up for, rather than shouting support for anything the Bush Administration decides to do, blindly and loudly.

Look for more of this across the country in the wake of the embarassing circus the Republican party made of the Schiavo ordeal and Bush's failure to propose a Social Security plan after all his blustering. You'll see thinking Republicans turn away from this administration in shame. They can only take so much.