So long, matey.....

Funny?

Not so fast....

From The Onion

Revised Patriot Act Will Make It Illegal To Read Patriot Act
WASHINGTON, DC—President Bush spoke out Monday in support of a revised version of the 2001 USA Patriot Act that would make it illegal to read the USA Patriot Act.
"Under current federal law, there are unreasonable obstacles to investigating and prosecuting acts of terrorism, including the public's access to information about how the federal police will investigate and prosecute acts of terrorism," Bush said at a press conference Monday.
"For the sake of the American people, I call on Congress to pass this important law prohibiting access to itself."
Bush also proposed extending the rights of states to impose the death penalty "in the wake of Sept. 11 and stuff."

And I know this piece by Eric Alterman in The Nation is going over old ground, but it's nonetheless a good read and asks some questions that may resurface in next year's campaign.

Elizabeth has a nice piece on John Ashcroft defending the Patriot Act, but the thing that strikes me is his strange quote:

"If your idea of a vacation is two weeks in a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, you might be a target of the Patriot Act. If you have cave-side dinners with a certain thug named bin Laden and if you enjoy swapping chemical weapons recipes from your joy of Jihad cookbook, you might be a target of the Patriot Act."

....which sounds a little too like the Saturday Night Live parody of Bush and Ashcroft in the show of December 1 2001, where Ashcroft - played by Darrell Hammond - says things like: "If the return address on your mail reads "A Cave".. you just might be a terrorist.

If you have just renewed your subscription to a magazine called "Nerve Gas Weekly", you just might be a terrorist"

"If your idea of getting stoned involves actual stones, there's a strong possibility that you might be a terrorist..."

Then Will Ferrell as Bush chimes in with: "If you are most familiar with me, George W., as a burning mannequin, then you might be a terrorist,"

and the classic:

"If you have a really long beard and you hang out in the desert, and you're not a member of ZZ Top, you might be a terrorist...

All good stuff.... but maybe the real AG is being a little too clever in making the cultural reference?