I guess Congress is worried that they need this to protect themselves from us. After watching highlights of the televised healthcare debate on Thursday, I’m beginning to better comprehend the perspective that some of the esteemed members our bicameral legislature feel like they are part of an elite and privileged class that has begun to increasingly fear the masses that are their constituencies.

Well, I guess their little “gated community” is a little bit safer now.

Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to renew three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, after the Senate abandoned the PATRIOT reform effort and approved the extension by a voice vote on Wednesday night.

via Epic Fail in Congress: USA PATRIOT Act Renewed Without Any New Civil Liberties Protections | Electronic Frontier Foundation.