Jefferson Review

"Your Liberty is Our Interest"

Home /  Archives / Search / Links / Quotes / Book Reviews / Advertise /Contact us / Subscribe / Calendar

The Patriot Act

By BERNARD J. KUNKEL

John Ashcroft and his pep rallies on the Patriot Act miss the point. Basically, the Attorney General is saying: We are from the government; trust us when we say the Patriot Act does not threaten civil liberties. But in a free society the assurances of government fall woefully short.

Ashcroft forgets that he is an administrator and not a legislator. His job is not to write laws or determine what the law should be. His job description is to execute the laws passed by Congress. How dare he admonish Congress or the American people for not supporting his viewpoint. It is a misuse of our tax dollars for him to travel throughout the country and lobby for his political positions.

The Patriot Act contains over 500 pages of complicated legalese, and the full text of the bill was not made available to Congress before the vote was taken. It was passed in the hysteria of the moment, and it clearly expands the government's ability to monitor the American people. The Patriot Act eases federal rules for search warrants, allows secret "sneak and peek" searches, expanded wiretaps and Internet monitoring and permits federal agents to examine library and bookstore records. It is no wonder that bumper stickers reading "I love my country but fear my government" are growing in popularity.

Weather (Louisville) / Mapquest / Search / White Pages / Business Search / CNN / Dictionary / E-card / MSN