The Patriot Act Revisited

Several months ago, in conversations about the Patriot Act with my liberal friends, they had a visceral dislike of this Act based, in my humble opinion, on partisan politics.

Steve Chapman's column "The Calm After the Patriot Act Storm" summarizes the history of this attitude over the last three years and explains how it has eliminated the possibility of a rational debate. My favorite part:

"A statement issued by the Justice Department said that 'most of the voluminous Patriot Act is actually unobjectionable from a civil liberties point of view' and that 'the law makes important changes that give law enforcement agents the tools they need to protect against terrorist attacks.'

"Oops. My mistake. That statement didn't come from the administration. It came from the American Civil Liberties Union." (my emphasis)

The Patriot Act must not be quite as bad as you all thought if the ACLU likes it!