(This is a “fair use” lo-res image from Fox for identification purposes only of the finest 20-seconds of TV in 2023. Apparently there is more to come).

Yeah, we were startled like you were yesterday afternoon. When we first heard it from Splash, we just assumed he had started early on the Belmont Farms, but then we saw it confirmed on the Flatscreen. We had rushed over to see the word on Mr. Trump’s indictment from that prosecutor in New York. It was a little mixed up- apparently the Russians are continuing to arrest journalists asking questions, which is what they used to do before news became the recitation of talking point. That accords the similarity between the Russian and American systems in the post-Cold War epoch. Arrest them and figure it out later. So, stand by. We had thought this matter was going away. Now we all have to live with it.

Accordingly, we had a choice about being alarmist or amused this morning. We chose both. Here’s the deal: the Chairman sent a text message last night saying this thing was as complex as the USAPatriot Act he reviewed more than twenty years ago as a government flunky. It was a bipartisan bill aimed at helping the response to 9/11. It also had some provisions that permitted government opportunities to identify terrorists not previously allowed. We had no idea that the targets also included all of us in the search for evil. That happened over time, of course, along with the people who decided what that was.

So, the amusement factor was high on Tuesday as we closed out the day. Senator Ted Cruz was a guest on one of the provocative news channels. The amusement arose when the Senator was asked not about school shootings- apparently subject of some proposed new laws. Instead, the questions were about a different bill. This one continues the tradition of cool if erroneous names for laws. It is called the “Restriction the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology.” The official short term for that word-stream of law is the RESTRICT Act, though you are unlikely to hear it described that way.

Congress sums up the Act this way in their online summary: “This bill requires federal actions to identify and mitigate foreign threats to information and communications technology (ICT) products and services. It also establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations under the bill. That is assigned to the Commerce Department with a portfolio to “identify, deter, disrupt, prevent, prohibit, investigate, and mitigate transactions involving ICT products and services (1) in which any foreign adversary has any interest, and (2) that pose an undue or unacceptable risk to U.S. national security or the safety of U.S. persons. They also are required to identify stocks and securities of risk, and permit the President to compel mitigation or divestment.”

Most of us know it as “The TikTok Bill.” It is supposed to address the existing threat in America posed by that Chinese social internet platform. The small print doesn’t mention that entity by name, though. It also abridges some key provisions of the 1st Amendment and essentially does away with the 4th. (The one about your “papers” being private with a court warrant).

When asked about whether the TikTok Bill was going to accomplish, Senator Cruz was clearly not prepared to speak. It was embarrassing at first, but the dance off was delightful. The host of the show reminded the lawmaker that he was one of twelve cosponsors of the measure. That and the short moment before they cut to something else was about the best twenty seconds we have seen.

The PATRIOT Act was the sort of template for how the government now works. We struggle to find enough words for some of the titles, since the pages of new potential restrictions used almost all of the available inventory. So, there may be that to look forward to. Like they used to say in the advertising business. “Some restrictions may apply.”

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com