http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NATIONAL_SECURITY_LETTERS?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=HOME
I am shocked....SHOCKED..that the Patriot Act would be misused this way!!! Wait. No I'm not. I actually am surprised that it was reported though. I figured it would be swept under the rug, at least until a Democrat took office.
What we're really seeing with this report is a commentary on the depths of how unpopular President Bush and his administration has become. There was no way this would have come out two years ago, or maybe even one year ago. While it's nice to see some oversight and some disclosure, I'm willing to bet a great deal on the fact that the report suppresses a lot more violations of civil liberties than it exposes. Don't get me wrong, Americans have no need to know everything that government does. In fact, most people couldn't "handle the truth".
The difference here is that the erosion of our constitutional rights is happening at a disturbingly rapid rate. This administration has used terrorism as a platform to bully America into accepting things that have been "against democracy norms". The Patriot Act (which no patriot would accept sight unseen, and even fewer would accept as written when seen), Wiretapping, circumventing the War Powers Act (linking Iraq to 9/11), no warrant for search and seizure, declaring citizens "enemy combatants" on American soil effectively stripping any hope of due process, Habeas corpus (only considered a hallmark of democracy), etc.
Maybe this can be a call to people to stop rolling over every time another constitutional right of a law abiding citizen is stomped on.
