The most infringing and frightening of laws tend to be the ones that are just railroaded past without any real fanfare. But this seems to be a rising trend, slowly chipping away at people's rights to gather and protest around the world, which is really frightening, while also rather perplexing when the western world tend to loudly condemn third-world nations whenever they crack down on their populations.
Admittadly, it's not exactly in the same scope, but it is still a worrying trend that deserves a good eye. It's little wonder that it scoots by in the aftermath of the OWS-movement, while many that would protest against it are too rattled by the events to raise an issue.
Hopefully, Obama will do what he should as a democratically elected leader and veto it. It strikes the same sort of cord that the SOPA-lobbyists did when they used the fact that the internet still works in Iran and China as a positive arguement, as if that is what we should strive towards.
And just to add perspective, this certainly isn't unique to America. I believe the Danish police force were equipped with new legislation as preparations were being made for the Copenhagen climate summit. As were the Swedish police before (and more so after) the 2001 EU summit riots of Gothenburg. Just as a reminder, keep an eye on your polititians, folks. They might very well succeed otherwise.
