Runaway Train: The True Story of the U.S. Patriot Act

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http://www.alternet.org/rights/19986/

 

Runaway Train: The True Story of the U.S. Patriot Act

By Martha Lynn, AlterNet

 

Posted on September 27, 2004,

http://www.alternet.org/story/19986/

 

While many people have heard of the Patriot Act, very few - including

the congresspeople who voted for it – have any idea what it actually

says. Is the Act a reasonable and logical application of the law to

protect us from terrorism, as Colorado Governor Bill Owens said in a

recent ACLU debate, or it an excessive and arbitrary curtailing of our

civil liberties? A new film, " Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil

Liberties " – executive produced by Robert Greenwald ( " Outfoxed " and

" Uncovered " ) and written, produced and directed by Nonny de la Peña –

jumps into the debate, providing the viewer with a detailed

on-the-ground exploration of the ramifications of the notorious act.

 

Passed in the panicked aftermath of September 11, 2001, the Patriot

Act was quickly fast-tracked through Congress at the urging of

Attorney General John Ashcroft. The film explains that while there was

a similar bipartisan anti-terrorism bill that Congress unanimously

supported, a handful of the government's " top men " switched the bill

at the eleventh hour, leaving Congress members with virtually no time

to read the 342 page document before hastily passing the bill into law.

 

Following the Patriot Act's history, the film highlights the many

draconian ways that the law invites infringement of the very civil

liberties that set the United States apart from other nations. The

film views the Patriot Act as a runaway train: unexpected, terrifying,

and completely out of control. In between personal testimonies, legal

explanations, and evidence of the act's misapplication, the film packs

a large amount of information into one hour, leaving at least this

viewer dizzy from the intensity.

 

The narration of " Unconstitutional " continually brings the viewer back

to the actual language of the Bill of Rights and emphasizes how the

Patriot Act places many of those rights in jeopardy. While the film

strongly contrasts the chasm between the dejure language of the

Constitution and the defacto post 9/11 political reality, it does so

by also idealizing the intentions of the Constitution's original

framers. Throughout the film, patriotic montages of the founding

fathers and the Statue of Liberty accompany sweeping orchestrated

music and excerpts of the actual Constitution. Presumably, the

intention is to emphasize the spirit of democracy, freedom, and

equality with which the founding fathers framed US law. This harkening

back to the " good ol' days " over idealized the framers'

intentions-forgetting the institutions of slavery, women as property,

and class divisions these documents were based on. This is an

understandable political strategy, but in simplifying the complexity

of the original constitution and bill of rights, the film loses a

small bit of its credibility.

 

Perhaps in deference to the importance of election year politics,

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and John Ashcroft are depicted as the

primary group determined to overrun the rights of US American

citizens. While there may be more than a grain of truth to this,

pitting these " evil men " against the " valiant " Congress and the US

public not only romanticizes the latter two, but also fails to take

into account the increasingly extremist tendencies of the US

Republican party as a whole.

 

Yet these oversimplifications don't overshadow the film's compelling

argument: the Patriot Act was indeed ushered into law before Congress

could carefully consider its consequences and without any mechanisms

for public intervention. The result is that while the US is no safer

than it was before September 11th, this legislation has enacted legal

changes that not only target possible " terrorists " but also

criminalize almost any U.S. citizen who dissents. The many personal

narratives in the film add a rich texture to these bare bone facts

about the Patriot Act and illustrate who really pays for this

reactionary and discriminatory legislation: immigrants, people of

color, and potentially every single US citizen.

 

Overall, " Unconstitutional " presents a long overdue and detailed-not

just topical-examination of the actual text and ramifications of the

law, something that has been largely missing from mainstream media,

and even other recent political documentaries. At a time when the

" Patriot Act 2 " is being quietly reintroduced in Congress,

" Unconstitutional " is a desperately needed tool that can educate the

US public about the real and often hidden consequences of the Patriot Act.

 

© 2004 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.

 

View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/19986/