Yellow Dog

I thought conservatives were supposed to be for less government, particularly goverment infringement on individual privacy. So why are the majority of Republicans (with some notable exceptions) trying to do the Bush administration's bidding by pushing through the renewal of the Patriot Act when it contains such troubling provisions:

National Security Letters: Federal agents have employed these to obtain private records on thousands of individuals without having to get a court's permission. Everything from credit reports to electronic communications to travel and retail purchase records are fair game. And there's no requirement that this power be limited to use against suspected terrorists. The pending legislation would do little to curb such abuse.

Secret court orders: Known misleadingly as the "library records" provision of the 2001 law, this tool can be used to get a secret court order for tax records, medical records, gun records and more. The recipient of such an order is prohibited from disclosing that it exists, and new language does little to allow for meaningful judicial review. The revisions would impose only the vaguest requirement that the records sought are actually connected to a terrorist organization, a suspected terrorist or even someone in contact with a suspected terrorist.

'Sneak and peak' raids: The government would still, with a warrant, be able to break into your home or business, poke into anything there and not have to inform you for 30 days — and there's an escape clause to justify further delays. Most troubling, the Justice Department recently acknowledged that 88% of the search warrants issued under this provision have been used in cases that have nothing to do with terrorism.

Pretty scary that our own US government can collect private information on citizens, regardless of suspecting them of terrorism (or any crime for that matter) and can access library records, hotel bookings, car-rental files, etc. without even telling us. Creepy.

The final line of the article sums it up best: "True patriotism requires not only giving law enforcement the tools it needs, but also adequately protecting citizens against abuse of that power."

USATODAY.com - Qualms about anti-terror law unite the left and right