Protecting Civil Liberties

With the defeat of the measure to end debate on the Patriot Act, Americans' civil liberties will live to see another day. Because the Republicans failed to compromise enough on protection of civil liberties, as the disclosures on illegal spying by the NSA and the Pentagon have shown, the bill shouldn't (and didn't) have a chance. While I oppose the Patriot Act overall, there are some measures that are less controversial, and therefore, it is vexing why the Republicans are opposed to extending the current version of the Patriot Act by three months. The only reason I can think of is that they are so used to getting their way and steamrolling any dissent, that they still believe they can strong-arm the bill through. I hope they are not right, but they have been successful at forcing a lock-step adherence to the party line in the past, even if they have to use barely legal (and illegal) means to accomplish it.