The reauthorized USA PATRIOT Act has passed the Senate 72-23 and the House 250-153. It heads now to the desk of Barack Obama, who will veto it, in accord with his rhetoric as a senator sign it before the midnight deadline.

So the bastards won, as we always knew they would in the end. But I'm glad Rand Paul was able to throw a monkeywrench into the system for a little while. (If Russ Feingold gets back into the Senate, I look forward to seeing Paul and Feingold fight for the Fourth Amendment together. They might not manage to save the Bill of Rights, but it would make a great buddy movie.)

If you missed this earlier, it's well worth watching: